The Africa Museum in Tervuren has begun work on digitising its archive of geological maps and documents relating to Congolese natural resources. The information is gradually being handed over to the Congolese authorities, according to Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés), minister for science policy and digitalisation. “Priorities are set at museum level in consultation with Congolese partners,” Matz’s office said. “Digital copies are being sent to the relevant Congolese authorities as and when they become available.” The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is stepping up
pressure to have the documents on Congolese mineral resources released and discussions on the matter are reported to have taken place recently between the Congolese and Belgian governments. With financial support from the European Commission, seven additional staff members have been working at the museum since last autumn to speed up the digitisation process. The museum “sets the priorities in consultation with its Congolese partners” and “gradually passes on the digitised information to the relevant Congolese authorities”, according to the Matz cabinet. The documents held
by the Africa Museum contain, among other things, information on the location of coltan, lithium, cobalt, copper and tin, all of which are raw materials crucial to the global economy. The digitisation initiative aims to consolidate the DRC’s geoscientific sovereignty. By establishing a better-documented mining sector, the country also hopes to boost its competitiveness and become more attractive to international investors. Various parties have already attempted to gain access to the documents. For example, the American mining company KoBold Metals requested access to the archive
as recently as February, but the museum refused. Minister Matz’s office emphasised that Belgium cannot simply grant exclusive access to the archives to a foreign private company with which it has no contractual relationship whatsoever.
Africa Museum Tervuren, digitisation, Congo mineral resources, Democratic Republic of the Congo, geological archive, coltan, lithium, cobalt, copper, tin, KoBold Metals, Vanessa Matz, European Commission, geoscientific sovereignty