Congo tech

An artisanal miner carries a sack of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on Oct. 12, 2022. Junior Kannah /AFP via Getty Images Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kara, a fellow at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the Kennedy School, has been researching modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a "clean" supply chain of cobalt from the country. In his new book, Cobalt Red, Kara writes that much of the DRC's cobalt is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day. "You have to imagine walking around some of these mining areas and dialing back our clock centuries," Kara says. "People are working in subhuman, grinding, degrading conditions. They use pickaxes, shovels, stretches of rebar to hack and scrounge at the earth in trenches and pits and tunnels to gather cobalt and feed it up the formal supply chain." Kara says the mining industry has ravaged the landscape of the DRC. Millions of trees have been cut down, the air around mines is hazy with dust and grit, and the water has ...

A young man carries wet cobalt on his back at the Shinkolobwe Cobalt mine, near Likasi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004. A class action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 is seeking to hold Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla accountable for profiting off the misery of child labor in their quest for cobalt. “Our children are dying like dogs.” That is the sorrowful statement of one Congolese mother whose son and cousin died while working the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and other parents like her are part of a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 seeking to hold Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla accountable for what they allege is profiting off the misery of child labor in their quest for cobalt. “Cobalt is a key component of every rechargeable lithium-ion battery in all of the gadgets made by defendants and all other tech and electric car companies in the world that has brought on the latest wave of cruel exploitation fueled by greed, corruption and indifference to a population of powerless, starving Congolese people,” the suit reads. Related • • The companies have argued the case should be dismissed, asserting they have no control over the mining practices in a foreign country and that the families lack standing to bring the suit on U.S. soil. Furthermore, they st...

Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • All • A-Z • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Featured • • About • • • • • • • • Follow • • • • • • • • Subscriptions • • Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Dell have all been named in a federal lawsuit from parents who say their children were injured or killed in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The suit accuses the companies of forcing children as young as six to work long hours, where they are "regularly maimed and killed." It includes photos of plaintiffs' injuries, like crushed and injured legs. The children and their families are seeking damages for unpaid wages, medical costs, and for the "mental anguish and pain and suffering" of being forced to work under dangerous conditions.

Adam Shebindu and his company, Bora Technology, sprang into action to help the people in his home country fight COVID-19. The ferocity of the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S. in March 2020. When the virus became prominent in Lubbock, Like many, Adam Shebindu – a Texas Tech alumnus who earned his bachelor's and "During the pandemic, the Congolese capital city of Kinshasa only had 55 ventilators for a population of 14 million people," Shebindu said. "COVID-19 didn't reach the Congo until April, so it was a big deal – it's still a big deal. It's a challenge." Bora Technology As fate would have it, Shebindu had started a company, Bora Technology, in February 2020. His goal is to provide technological independence to the Congo. "Since the Congo imports everything, it's very complex to actually become a developed country or to bring the country to some type of progress, because the difference between a developing country and a developed country is the ability to develop its own technology," he said. "So, once you become independent technologically, you're now on the table among emerging countries." The ventilator developed by Shebindu and his company, Bora Technology. When the coronavirus came to the Congo, Shebindu knew he had to be proactive. "I told my guys that my goal is to develop technology and use my knowledge of medical technology," he said. "I told them we should start developing something that we can use in case of an emergency, at least. So, we started deve...

In Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 40,000 phones are sold every month. The city is home to 13% of the country’s 85 million people. Unsurprisingly, it is the country’s rallying point for entrepreneurship. While possessing a mobile phone is considered Thanks to digital finance initiatives from big banks like Ecobank and UBA, financial inclusion has These are not great numbers. Indeed, the DRC should be doing better with its material and human resources. It is the second largest African country by land area, the fourth most populous, and 60% of Congolese are between the ages of 15 and 25. In the 21st century, they are not showing up much on the African tech conversation. While it is exciting to see global acclaim for startups in North, South, East and West Africa, a representative view of innovation in Africa must engage slower growing places like the DRC. Under the aegis of the Congo Business Network, a group of entrepreneurs from the country are doing that. Though born in the DRC, Noel Tshiani has now been in the US for 24 years. A former military officer, Tshani founded an advisory company to advise businesses on strategy. But after realising the difficulty in running businesses in his home country, he began the Business Network as a platform to amplify and help guide local entrepreneurs for global visibility. By attending events like the Africa Tech Summit, the Network hopes to tell an alternative story about the DRC as a country enthusiastic ab...

Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. It often indicates a user profile. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • All • A-Z • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • Featured • • About • • • • • • • • Follow • • • • • • • • Subscriptions • • Apple, Google, Microsoft, Tesla, and Dell have all been named in a federal lawsuit from parents who say their children were injured or killed in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, The suit accuses the companies of forcing children as young as six to work long hours, where they are "regularly maimed and killed." It includes photos of plaintiffs' injuries, like crushed and injured legs. The children and their families are seeking damages for unpaid wages, medical costs, and for the "mental anguish and pain and suffering" of being forced to work under dangerous conditions.

In Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, 40,000 phones are sold every month. The city is home to 13% of the country’s 85 million people. Unsurprisingly, it is the country’s rallying point for entrepreneurship. While possessing a mobile phone is considered Thanks to digital finance initiatives from big banks like Ecobank and UBA, financial inclusion has These are not great numbers. Indeed, the DRC should be doing better with its material and human resources. It is the second largest African country by land area, the fourth most populous, and 60% of Congolese are between the ages of 15 and 25. In the 21st century, they are not showing up much on the African tech conversation. While it is exciting to see global acclaim for startups in North, South, East and West Africa, a representative view of innovation in Africa must engage slower growing places like the DRC. Under the aegis of the Congo Business Network, a group of entrepreneurs from the country are doing that. Though born in the DRC, Noel Tshiani has now been in the US for 24 years. A former military officer, Tshani founded an advisory company to advise businesses on strategy. But after realising the difficulty in running businesses in his home country, he began the Business Network as a platform to amplify and help guide local entrepreneurs for global visibility. By attending events like the Africa Tech Summit, the Network hopes to tell an alternative story about the DRC as a country enthusiastic ab...

A young man carries wet cobalt on his back at the Shinkolobwe Cobalt mine, near Likasi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004. A class action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 is seeking to hold Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla accountable for profiting off the misery of child labor in their quest for cobalt. “Our children are dying like dogs.” That is the sorrowful statement of one Congolese mother whose son and cousin died while working the cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo. She and other parents like her are part of a class-action lawsuit filed in U.S. federal court in Washington, D.C., in 2019 seeking to hold Apple, Alphabet (the parent company of Google), Dell Technologies, Microsoft and Tesla accountable for what they allege is profiting off the misery of child labor in their quest for cobalt. “Cobalt is a key component of every rechargeable lithium-ion battery in all of the gadgets made by defendants and all other tech and electric car companies in the world that has brought on the latest wave of cruel exploitation fueled by greed, corruption and indifference to a population of powerless, starving Congolese people,” the suit reads. Related • • The companies have argued the case should be dismissed, asserting they have no control over the mining practices in a foreign country and that the families lack standing to bring the suit on U.S. soil. Furthermore, they st...

An artisanal miner carries a sack of ore at the Shabara artisanal mine near Kolwezi, DRC, on Oct. 12, 2022. Junior Kannah /AFP via Getty Images Smartphones, computers and electric vehicles may be emblems of the modern world, but, says Siddharth Kara, their rechargeable batteries are frequently powered by cobalt mined by workers laboring in slave-like conditions in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kara, a fellow at Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health and at the Kennedy School, has been researching modern-day slavery, human trafficking and child labor for two decades. He says that although the DRC has more cobalt reserves than the rest of the planet combined, there's no such thing as a "clean" supply chain of cobalt from the country. In his new book, Cobalt Red, Kara writes that much of the DRC's cobalt is being extracted by so-called "artisanal" miners — freelance workers who do extremely dangerous labor for the equivalent of just a few dollars a day. "You have to imagine walking around some of these mining areas and dialing back our clock centuries," Kara says. "People are working in subhuman, grinding, degrading conditions. They use pickaxes, shovels, stretches of rebar to hack and scrounge at the earth in trenches and pits and tunnels to gather cobalt and feed it up the formal supply chain." Kara says the mining industry has ravaged the landscape of the DRC. Millions of trees have been cut down, the air around mines is hazy with dust and grit, and the water has ...

Adam Shebindu and his company, Bora Technology, sprang into action to help the people in his home country fight COVID-19. The ferocity of the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the U.S. in March 2020. When the virus became prominent in Lubbock, Like many, Adam Shebindu – a Texas Tech alumnus who earned his bachelor's and "During the pandemic, the Congolese capital city of Kinshasa only had 55 ventilators for a population of 14 million people," Shebindu said. "COVID-19 didn't reach the Congo until April, so it was a big deal – it's still a big deal. It's a challenge." Bora Technology As fate would have it, Shebindu had started a company, Bora Technology, in February 2020. His goal is to provide technological independence to the Congo. "Since the Congo imports everything, it's very complex to actually become a developed country or to bring the country to some type of progress, because the difference between a developing country and a developed country is the ability to develop its own technology," he said. "So, once you become independent technologically, you're now on the table among emerging countries." The ventilator developed by Shebindu and his company, Bora Technology. When the coronavirus came to the Congo, Shebindu knew he had to be proactive. "I told my guys that my goal is to develop technology and use my knowledge of medical technology," he said. "I told them we should start developing something that we can use in case of an emergency, at least. So, we started deve...