Peace and Security in the Great Lakes region - Africa

Contributing to peace and security in the Great Lakes Region through responsible mining

The Transformational Potential:

• Support peace, stability, human rights, environmentally sustainable economic development, and control of illegal cross-border trade of the Great Lakes region.
• Transformational impact both in terms of development and in terms of fostering integration into EU industrial supply chains of strategic raw materials.

The Team Europe Proposal:

1. Support responsible and sustainable management of raw materials in the mining sector (awareness raising, TVET and technological transfer, good governance, fighting against organised crime, dialogue with private sector and CSOs, etc.).

2. Promote formal regional trade in the mineral sector, including dialogue and cooperation (support of AfCFTA and EPA frameworks), capacity building (tax harmonization, strengthening of anti-smuggling laws, customs, and border controls); support to certification frameworks, etc.

3. Support the implementation of the bilateral partnerships on sustainable raw materials value chains with GLR’s countries, including local value addition and integration of (critical) raw materials value chains; R&I; alignment on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Criteria and international standards; raw material value chains as drivers for infrastructure development, etc.

Geographical scope: 

• Primary: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda
• Secondary level: Angola, Central African Republic, Congo, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia