(3-minute read)
· MIBA – The Bakwanga Mining Company is located in the city of Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of the Kasai-Oriental province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo.
· At one time, this company—80% owned by the government and the rest by a Belgian firm—was the pride of the city for its extraction of diamonds primarily used for industrial purposes.
· The average annual production, which stood at six million carats in 2000, was reduced to less than half a million carats in 2011, when it resumed operations a decade ago.
MIBA – The Bakwanga Mining Company is located in the city of Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of the Kasai-Oriental province in the south-central Democratic Republic of Congo. At one time, this company—80% owned by the government and the rest by a Belgian firm—was the pride of the city for its extraction of diamonds primarily used for industrial purposes.
This glory did not last long. A combination of factors, such as mismanagement, dilapidated infrastructure, and the fallout from the two Congo wars that took place between 1997 and 2003, left MIBA struggling. Eventually, the mine was closed in 2008 amid the global financial crisis. The average annual production, which stood at six million carats in 2000, was reduced to less than half a million carats in 2011, when it resumed operations a decade ago. The company’s operations are in a suboptimal state.
The state released $5 million last August at the request of President Félix Tshisekedi, who hails from the Kasai region where the company is located. The company’s managers believe this capital injection is insufficient to make it fully operational. The company, which was established in 1961 with high expectations, is still struggling to survive. The company needs to obtain a lot of money from the government. But the government refuses to pay since its own coffers are also empty. The people who depend on the mine for their livelihood are eagerly awaiting the government’s generosity to save the company, which was once a jewel of the nation.