Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform act – what are the consequences for artisanal miners in Congo?

 

August 2011

 

Is the new Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform law really protecting the Congolese society from the curse of “conflict minerals”? The debate is heating up…

 

The Dodd-Frank Act requires public companies to indicate what measures they are taking to ensure that minerals in their supply chain don’t benefit warlords in conflict-ravaged Congo.

 

However, according to David Aronson, author of the article published in the New York Times, the Dodd-Frank law has had unintended and devastating consequences – bringing about a de facto embargo on the minerals mined in the region and depriving thousands of small-scale miners of their only source of livelihood.

 

Read the “How Congress Devastated Congo” article published in the New York Times.

 

Not everyone, though, agrees with Aronson´s views.

 

Read a polemic response from Sasha Lezhnev, the Enough Project´s Policy Consultant: “What Conflict Minerals Legislation Is Actually Accomplishing in Congo”, Huffington Post.