Stories from the Field
Mineral revenues fund community health centre
One morning in December 2015, a 900m² plot of land stretched before Olivier Mitima in the town of Nyabibwe, South Kivu, DRC. Olivier is the president of the town’s civil society as well as president of the local monitoring committee (CLS) of mining activities in the...
Guidance reduces illegal mining and child labour
Poor oversight of any mine site by authorities, and lack of proper management by companies, can unfortunately create the opportunity for illegal mining to occur. Adults and/or children, desperate to find any source of income to survive, may enter a mine site to work...
Better livelihoods thanks to formalised mining
Like many others growing up in Busoro, Innocent Sibomana’s family was large and faced with the challenges of poverty; his father had two wives and there were 12 children in the family. Innocent described his situation in the earlier years of his life; “I dropped out...
Building bridges from mineral revenues
Imagine a small town in a lush green landscape with two mighty rivers running through it. Residents – farmers, nurses, children, merchants, mothers, miners, teachers – all going about their daily business. The town is called Bihambwe, located in North Kivu province in...
Potential set-back from low mineral prices
Before the iTSCi programme was implemented across the Great Lakes Region, the extraction of tin, tantalum, and tungsten (3Ts) ore was characterized by high levels of fraud with little monitoring of prices, taxes or other activities taking place in the mines, at...
Encouraging children away from work at mines
In the DRC, in common with other artisanal mining areas around the world, children can be drawn into extraction, crushing, washing and transportation of minerals, often to help their families with income, pay for school fees, or cover their basic needs. Although the...
Combating illegal trading through formalisation
"Everything I have in life is thanks to mining tin. I have built two shops, and bought two pieces of land and 10 cows” says Kasheija Evariste, a production manager with African Panther Resources Uganda (APRU). Kasheija started mining in 2006 when he was 23 years old...
From poverty to empowered employer of 20
Born and raised in a family of eight in the Gakenke district in Rwanda, Noel Nshimiyimana’s family could barely make ends meet. After finishing school at the age of 17, Noel was admitted to a vocational training school, but was unable to afford the school’s fees. Noel...
Bringing better practice on security
Some insecurity persists in the Great Lakes Region and security services play an important role in protecting communities, mining areas and transport routes and maintaining the law, including to help legitimate trade to grow. At the same time, security forces should...
A successful business grows from traceability
The owner of SEAVMC (Société d’Extraction Achat et Vente des Minerais et Carrières), Mr. Emmanuel Nyabyenda, started working in the mining sector in 2008. He slowly built up his company, and now has over fifteen mine sites allocated to him by the Rwandan Government....
A young mother is enabled to provide for her family
Naomi Mwilambwe survived the war which en-gulfed the DRC until 2002 but was abandoned by her husband with three small children to look after. After a failed small business venture she went to work washing minerals in the mines. Today she is providing her children with...
Increased incomes under iTSCi offer a better life
In Western Province of Rwanda, the iTSCi mineral traceability system is enabling miners like Jean Bosco Mbarushimana to earn better incomes from mining activities and provide a better life for themselves and their families. Jean Bosco, a team leader at the COMINYABU...