FCA Quarterly – Q1 2023

In the first quarter of 2023, the FCA continued to make progress in its efforts to support the transformation of the artisanal cobalt sector in the DR Congo. A few changes were made in our Kolwezi office. The FCA has welcomed a new country director after the departure of Steve Brewster. Antoine Kasongo (pictured below) […]

How to provide access to healthcare to artisanal cobalt miners in the DR Congo

In this guest blog post, Dr. Julius Emmrich, co-founder of Elucid Social, shares Elucid’s work on reducing financial barriers to healthcare in agri supply chains and the replication of this approach to the artisanal mining sector in the DR Congo.   Access to healthcare is a human right.  In sub-Saharan Africa, where less than 10% […]

Child Labour Remediation Hub for the DRC’s Mining Sector

This is an excerpt from the FCA 2022 Annual Impact and Finance Report authored by Ines Kaempfer, CEO of The Centre for Child Rights and Business, on the support provided to children working at mine sites, in collaboration with local organisations, to provide them with a path away from mining.   The Child Labour Remediation […]

Publishing FCA Annual Report 2022

In our commitment to stay transparent about our work in the DR Congo, we are proud to publish the 2022 impact and financial report available here. Starting with a foreword (below) from the former Chairwoman of the Steering Committee, Angela Jorns and the Executive Director of the FCA, Assheton Stewart Carter, the annual report has, […]

2023 – The year of critical minerals

Critical minerals – critical to what? EU and US ambitions to reach net-zero or DR Congo’s long-term prosperity; they could mean the same – but do they? With the war raging in Eastern Europe, Europe’s reliance on Russian gas is more apparent than ever as average consumers and companies face skyrocketing gas prices. This has […]

Developments in Supply Chain Traceability

This is a guest blog authored by Craig Woodburn, the head of ESG at Britishvolt, the UK’s foremost investor in battery cell technology and associated research and development. In this piece, Craig reflects on how far responsible sourcing of battery materials has come since the transition to a green economy started, the significance of the […]

FCA Quarterly Update – Q2 2022

In the second quarter of 2022, the FCA has made considerable progress in its efforts to support the transformation of the artisanal cobalt sector in the DRC. After a thorough recruitment process, we are excited to welcome to our team Alex Deprez, the new Country Director for the FCA. Leveraging more than two decades of […]