April 26, 2024 – Wells dry up or are heavily polluted, the air is full of harmful dust. FoodFirst Information and Action Network (FIAN) documents in one Do an investigation the conditions in the Sangaredi-Mine in Guinea.
Mining of raw materials in Guinea
Guinea has the largest known bauxite deposits and is already the world leader in exports. 90 percent of all the country’s exports are raw materials, apart from bauxite, mainly gold, diamonds and iron ore. The mining sector accounts for 18 to 22 percent of gross domestic product and nearly a quarter of government revenue. More than half of the latter comes from bauxite mining.
In part of the town of Sangaredi in northwestern Guinea, a special economic zone has been established due to its rich natural resources, which is intended to attract foreign investments with tax relief and simplified land acquisition. Mines are close together there. Since the state does not specify spatial planning, there is no need to leave land for biodiversity or water conservation or for the self-sufficiency of local residents. Bauxite is usually transported in open vehicles and the harmful dust pollutes the air and water. At the same time, wells are drained or polluted to such an extent that they are no longer suitable for providing drinking water.
Cities surrounded by mine file complaints
There are about 20 villages in the area surrounded by the Sangaredi mine. To expand the mine, the semi-state mining company Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée (CBG) wants to relocate several small towns and has already created some facts. The village of Hamdallaye was forcibly relocated in 2020 – to a slag heap where agriculture is not possible.
Together with NGOs, 13 of the villages submitted a complaint to the World Bank in 2019. However, the CBG does not adhere to a mediation agreement according to which certain distances from villages should be kept during an explosion. Local NGOs report that public criticism of the mining companies could be dangerous. The courts did not deal with legal violations in mining.
Germany imports bauxite from the Sangaredi mine
About 90 percent of Germany’s bauxite imports come from Guinea, mostly from the Sangaredi region. In 2016, CBG received international loans worth more than three quarters of a billion for the expansion of the mine. Funders included the World Bank and the German bank ING-DiBa. The individual loan of the latter amounts to $293 million. It was secured by the federal government with an untied financial credit guarantee (UFK) to obtain bauxite for German industry. In return, CBG delivers 15 percent of the bauxite mined to Germany.
Previous studies had shown the potential impact on people and the local environment. FIAN emphasizes that the mine was only made possible through international investment – and not specifically with the loan insured by the German state. The NGO wants Germany’s foreign trade policy to respect and consider the human rights of the people affected locally.
Product for export
In addition, income from the mining sector hardly reaches the local population. Two corporations, the Société Minière de Boké (SMB) and CBG, dominate the sector. They produce for export. Raw materials are hardly processed locally and contribute little to the labor market. In 2021, the sector’s share of the labor market was just 6.7 percent. There are now laws with the aim of allowing the public to share in the profits of corporations – but so far they have only gone down very slowly.
Despite human rights violations and environmental destruction, CBG has a sustainability seal from the Aluminum Stewardship Initiative (ASI) for 2024. The NGOs consider it a farce. Environmental and human rights groups fear that bauxite mining will destroy more than 4,700 km2 of natural habitat in Guinea by 2040 alone. jb
2024-04-26 04:01:57
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