Gold continues to be the leading factor leading to conflict in the Congo. An estimated $300-$600 million worth of gold is smuggled out of the country each year and later traded on international markets, including the United States—and a new report by The Sentry, the investigative and policy research arm of The Enough Project, has found that some of that gold may be making its way into U.S. companies’ supply chains. This week, The Atlantic Council hosted an event featuring USFIA member the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA) to discuss the findings and the path forward

Sasha Lezhnev, Deputy Director of Policy at The Enough Project, reviewed the organization’s new report highlighting how gold mined in conflict areas in eastern Congo may be reaching the supply chains of 283 US. Publicly listed companies. The conflict gold is being exported from Congo at the African Gold Refinery (AGR) in Uganda through a series of companies and ending in the United States in products including jewelry, gold bars for banks, and electronics.

The report offers recommendations for the U.S. government and companies to support conflict-free gold trade, including targeted network sanctions, anti-money laundering red flags and advisories, and even encouraging the Ugandan government to find and prosecute the violators. Click here to read the full report.

The Responsible Business Alliance’s Hillary Amster talked about the organization’s Responsible Minerals Initiative, which is dedicated to addressing sourcing issues in the supply chain and providing companies with resources to make smart sourcing decisions to improve regulatory compliance and support responsible sourcing from conflict-affected high-risk areas. To improve the global gold supply chain, companies must be responsible with sourcing decisions, follow due-diligence guidelines, and do more work on ground in terms of validating gold sites. Companies can have a direct impact on the situation through sourcing decisions, and customers can have a social impact by applying pressure to companies and creating incentive to source from conflict-free areas or take extreme precautions otherwise.

For more information on the RBA and this issue, we encourage you to review our executive summary on conflict minerals or our webinar earlier this year on strengthening minerals due diligence, or visit www.responsiblebusiness.org.

Report by Molly McNulty, USFIA Communications Coordinator