The Congo Hold-Up Investigation in Focus

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is one of the richest countries in the world in terms of natural resources, and yet its population remains among the poorest. The country’s cobalt and copper reserves are essential for the global transition to greener energy, but these sectors have been rife with corruption and human rights abuses for years. There is an opportunity to learn from the DRC's challenges: how can Kinshasa and the international community better balance responsible resource management, good governance, human rights, and climate change--particularly ahead of the country's 2023 elections?

Join the CSIS Africa Program on February 17 at 10:00 am ET for a discussion on these issues through the lens of the "Congo Hold-Up" series, a massive inquiry into corruption in the DRC. Since October 2021, nearly two dozen media organizations and NGOs have collaborated to analyze close to 3.5 million leaked documents from BGFIBank Group, known as the “most powerful bank in Central Africa.” These investigations and the underlying bank documents reveal, among other things, how BGFI served as a center for those seeking to corrupt DRC authorities and how private interests took hold of and misused DRC’s rich natural resources, Electoral Commission, Central Bank, public mining companies, and tax revenues during the regime of former President Joseph Kabila.

The event will feature a panel discussion with Ida Sawyer (Deputy Director of the Africa Division at Human Rights Watch), Floribert Anzuluni (Senior DRC Policy Advisor to The Sentry), and Elisabeth Caesens (Founder and Executive Director of Resource Matters). The panel will be moderated by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, Director and Senior Fellow of the CSIS Africa Program.

This event is made possible through general support to CSIS.