Société Aurifère du Kivu et du Maniema, SARL (SAKIMA) is a Congolese

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

mining company which holds interests in various gold and tin mines in the provinces of

Maniema Maniema Province (''Jimbo la Maniema'', in Swahili) is one of 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital is Kindu. The 2020 population was estimated to be 2,856,300. Toponymy Henry Morton Stanley explored the area ...

North Kivu North Kivu () is a Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, province bordering Lake Kivu in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The capital city is Goma. Spanning approximately 59,483 square kilometers with a population esti ...

and

South Kivu South Kivu (; ) is one of Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 26 provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Its capital city, capital is Bukavu. Located within the East African Rift's western branch Albertine Rift, it is ...

in the eastern

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. The company's operations are based in the town of Kalima.

History

SAKIMA was founded in 1997 to take over the assets of Société Minière et Industrielle du Kivu. SAKIMA was originally 93% owned by the

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

-based ''Banro Resource Corporation'' and 7% owned by the DRC government.

Laurent-Désiré Kabila Laurent-Désiré Kabila (; 27 November 1939 – 16 January 2001) usually known as Laurent Kabila or Kabila the Father (American English, US: ), was a Congolese rebel and politician who served as the third president of the Democratic Republic of t ...

's administration wanted SAKIMA to invest hundreds of millions into reviving its

cassiterite Cassiterite is a tin oxide mineral, SnO2. It is generally opaque, but it is translucent in thin crystals. Its luster and multiple crystal faces produce a desirable gem. Cassiterite was the chief tin ore throughout ancient history and remains ...

, coltan, and gold mines, but Banro refused as it was only interested in the gold mines. Relations between Banro and the government deteriorated, and the SAKIMA's mining agreements were revoked by presidential degree in July 1998 and transferred to ''Société des Mines du Congo SARL'' (SOMICO), a new wholly Congolese state-owned corporation. This prompted Banro to file a $1 billion lawsuit at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. Following the ascension of

Joseph Kabila Joseph Kabila Kabange ( , ; born 4 June 1971) is a Congolese politician and former military officer who served as the fourth President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2001 to 2019. He took office ten days after the assassination o ...

as president of the DRC, the matter was ultimately settled out of court in April 2002, with Banro getting a 100% interest in the Twangiza, Kamituga, Lugushwa, and Namoya gold mines for a 30 year term. The 2002 agreement reinstated SAKIMA as a wholly Congolese state-owned corporation. In August 1998, a few days after SAKIMA's mining rights were revoked, Rally for Congolese Democracy (RCD) launched a rebellion that became the

Second Congo War The Second Congo War, also known as Africa's World War or the Great War of Africa, was a major conflict that began on 2 August 1998, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, just over a year after the First Congo War. The war initially erupted ...

. SAKIMA director Alexis Thambwe was sympathetic to RCD, allowing the rebel group to take over SAKIMA's concessions with little disruption and requisition what mineral stocks existed for the war. In 2003, SAKIMA signed an agreement with the South Africa-based ''Central African Resources'', who promised to invest $36 million in SAKIMA in exchange for SAKIMA handing over management of its mines. As part of the contract, ''Central African Resources'' had an option to acquire 80% of SAKIMA, but SAKIMA eventually leased out many of its deposits to other companies, claiming ''Central African Resources'' was taking too long to commence operations. ''Central African Resources'' claimed these agreements were illegal, but their contract with SAKIMA was revoked by the Ministry of Mines 2007-2008 mining contract review process. In 2020, SAKIMA signed a

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acce ...

agreement with the Ugandan company Dott Services to run mining sites in Maniema province. The venture, ''Punia Kasese Mining'' (PKM), was to be owned 70% by Dott and 30% by SAKIMA. In June 2021, DRC president

Felix Tshisekedi Felix may refer to: * Felix (name), people and fictional characters with the name Places * Arabia Felix is the ancient Latin name of Yemen * Felix, Spain, a municipality of the province Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, ...

signed an agreement with Rwandan president

Paul Kagame Paul Kagame ( ; born 23 October 1957) is a Rwandan politician and former military officer who has been the President of Rwanda since 2000. He was previously a commander of the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a rebel armed force which invaded ...

for gold from the venture to be sent to the Rwandan company ''Dither Ltd'' for refining, but the deal was revoked in June 2022 amid the renewed offensive of M23.

References

{{reflist Mining companies of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Non-renewable resource companies established in 1997 1997 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

History

See also

References