Africa: Who Buys Rwanda's Smuggled Coltan? The Global Journey of Conflict Coltan From DRC to the World's Electronics

Conflict coltan smuggled from the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is finding its way into global markets and popular consumer products, despite due diligence systems

Where have over 2,000 tonnes of smuggled conflict coltan gone?

These looted minerals come from mines in Rubaya in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which produce 15% of the world's tantalum, a key ingredient for electronic products found in smartphones, laptops and cars around the world.

The Rubaya mines have become a main revenue source for M23's brutal warfare in DRC. Seizing vast areas of territory, the armed group backed by Rwanda's military has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians, abducting and torturing with impunity.

But once the coltan is smuggled to Rwanda, little is known about who buys it or where it goes.

In a year-long investigation, Global Witness followed the DRC's conflict coltan from the mines across the border and into global supply chains. We established the complicity of Rwandan officials, as smuggling reached "unprecedented" levels.

With Rwanda's coltan exports more than doubling over the past three years, we identified the seven companies that exported 85% of the coltan.

Through interviews with coltan smugglers, we found that at least five of these seven companies buy conflict coltan from DRC, selling it on through middlemen to smelters in China and Kazakhstan.

In the smelters, the coltan is processed into tantalum. From there, it is used to manufacture the capacitors that are essential components in electronic devices.

We found that conflict coltan may have unwittingly found its way to global brands including Microsoft, Vodafone, Sony, Amazon, Nvidia, LG Display, Ericsson, Toyota and Apple - and into products we use every day.

Around 15 years ago, a system took shape in the African Great Lakes Region that was designed to put an end to minerals financing conflict.

The recent war in DRC is a test case. Our investigation reveals that the due diligence and traceability systems have failed to break the link between conflict and natural resources.

Instead, the traceability system known as ITSCI that many international companies rely on to keep their supply chains conflict-free is being used to launder a large share of smuggled coltan. Coltan connected to the conflict has also likely been introduced into an alternative system called Better Mining.

The Responsible Minerals Initiative's audits have failed to detect conflict coltan in smelters' supply chains.

Meanwhile, as the war in eastern DRC continues, the