An investigation by Global Witness has revealed that hundreds of tonnes of coltan, a key mineral used in electronics, are being smuggled from the Democratic Republic of Congo into global supply chains via Rwanda.
The NGO found that armed rebels in eastern DRC are mining the mineral and moving it across the border into Rwanda, where it is mixed with local production and exported to processing plants in China and Kazakhstan.
UN experts estimate that 120 tonnes of coltan were exported monthly to Rwanda between May and October 2024, with Rwanda's coltan exports more than doubling in the last three years.
The investigation claims that Rwandan officials are complicit in the smuggling and that the conflict coltan may have found its way into products from global brands including Microsoft, Vodafone, Sony, Amazon, Nvidia, LG Display, Ericsson, Toyota, and Apple.
