The core documents:
The two main publications by Global Witness on the “secret sales” scandal were our memos to shareholders of London-listed companies Glencore and ENRC. Both memos were published on the eve of the companies’ annual general meetings in 2012. They were followed by a series of shorter briefings.
We would recommend that those new to the issue start with the Q&As on the subjects. Read the Global Witness Q&A on Glencore in the Congo and Global Witness Q&A on ENRC in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Global Witness’s May 2014 report, ‘Glencore and the Gatekeeper’, traces the commodities giant’s entry to Congo and the evolution of its ties to Dan Gertler, the middleman at the centre of some of the nation’s most controversial mining deals. Click here to read it.
Another must-read on the subject is the Africa Progress Panel’s 2013 report, to which Global Witness contributed. Click here for a link to a pdf containing only the pages related to the DRC, with graphics describing two of the major deals.
The full list of Global Witness’s “secret sales” publications:
19/05/14: Glencore and the Gatekeeper
10/02/14: Global Witness response to allegations over Congo oil report
23/01/14: Congo fails to reveal loss-making oil deal with controversial businessman’s offshore firm
18/10/13: Secretive plans to sell a lucrative Congolese mining asset raise further Congo corruption concerns
9/5/13: Global Witness welcomes Kofi Annan’s call for financial transparency in African resource deals
26/4/13: Global Witness welcomes SFO announcement of formal investigation into ENRC
2/1/2013 Latest coverage on controversial ENRC activities & $550 million Congo deal (blog post)
23/12/2012 ENRC shareholders should reject $550 million Congo deal (press release).
5/12/2012 Corruption risks mean the IMF was right to halt Congo loan programme
22/10/12: Global Witness comments on Daily Mail report of ENRC anti-corruption moves (updated 23rd October)
27/7/12: Press releasse: Possible new ENRC deal raises fresh corruption risks
29/6/12: Press release: News over ownership of Congolese oil blocks raises further corruption concerns
18/6/12: Press release: Congo’s mines ministry reacts to Global Witness reports on “secret sales” controversy
11/06/2012 FTSE 100 mining company ENRC must openly address Congo corruption concerns (press release)
12/6/12: Global Witness memo to ENRC shareholders
11/6/12: Briefing: Global Witness Q&A on ENRC in the Democratic Republic of Congo
5/5/12: Memo to Glencore shareholders: secrecy surrounding glencore’s business deals in the Democratic Republic of Congo risks exposing shareholders to corrupt practices (briefing)
5/5/12: Press release: Glencore ‘should explain potentially corrupt deals in Congo’ – Global Witness
5/5/12: Global Witness Q&A on Glencore in the Democratic Republic of Congo
21/12/2011: Submission to the Foreign Office Overseas Territories consultation
01/12/2011: Why the EITI Rules need to cover licensing: the case of the DR Congo
13/9/11: Corrected transcript of oral evidence to the UK’s International Development Committee
7/9/11: Further written evidence to the UK’s International Development Committee
8/6/11: Written evidence to the UK’s International Development Committee
11/4/11: Press release: DR Congo must publish deals to prove its commitment to transparency
Associated material
5/12/12: Straker incorporation documents
5/5/12: Responses by Glencore to Global Witness
5/5/12: Questions submitted by Global Witness to Dan Gertler
5/5/12: Responses by Dan Gertler to Global Witness
5/5/12: Additional responses by Dan Gertler to Global Witness
18/6/12: Congolese ministry of mines statement in English
11/6/12: ENRC statement to Global Witness
11/6/12: Questions Global Witness posed to Mr Gertler in relation to ENRC
11/6/12: Statement by Dan Gertler's spokesman regarding Global Witness