Belgium to Help Burundi Implement Mineral-Certification Program

Belgium agreed to help Burundi implement a mineral-certification program aimed at curbing the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the East African country and the region.

Belgium will also assist Burundi in managing archives and translating mineral laws into the Kirundi language, according to a statement handed to reporters today in Bujumbura, the capital.

An accord on the assistance was one of two agreements signed by Liberate Mulamula, executive secretary of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region, and Belgian Ambassador Jozef Smets on May 27, the statement said.

Belgium will also provide financial and technical assistance to countries grouped by the conference to help curb the illegal exploitation of minerals, according to the statement. The conference’s members include Angola, Burundi, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Sudan, Tanzania and Zambia, according to its website.

Burundi produces minerals including gold, tin, tungsten, tantalum and niobium, according to the website of the U.S. Geological Survey.

To contact the reporter on this story: Desire Nimubona in Bujumbura via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.