Should the US reimpose sanctions on Dan Gertler?
Israeli billionaire Dan Gertler was hit by US sanctions in 2017 for allegedly profiting from “opaque and corrupt oil deals” when using his friendship with President Kabila to act as a middleman for international companies in the DRC.
The US government stated that “between 2010 and 2012 alone, the DRC reportedly lost over $1.36 billion in revenues from the underpricing of mining assets that were sold to offshore companies linked to Gertler”. Gertler denies all wrongdoing.
However, five days before leaving office in January 2021, President Donald Trump eased the sanctions. Under a new licence, US institutions are allowed to lift asset freezes and transact with Gertler and his sanctioned entities for at least a year. No reason was given for the decision, which bypassed a normally rigorous review process.
As hopes rise that Congo is turning the corner on corrupt and opaque practices in the mining sector, rights groups stress that now more than ever there need to be consequences for those involved in illicit deals in the country.
Gertler’s associates in the DRC continue to occupy influential positions, while companies such as Glencore, who partnered with him while he was under sanctions, need to be held to account, says The Sentry’s Sasha Lezhnev, who broke the story on Trump’s move to ease sanctions on Gertler.
Reforms will also be key to stamping out corruption in a new era of transparency. Tens of millions of dollars paid out by extractive companies each year disappear into a black hole, never reaching national treasuries, says Lezhnev.
“That loophole needs to be closed,” he says. “If indeed the Gertler sanctions can be fully reinstated and the Tshisekedi government gets some of these new transparency reforms off the ground, we could say we were turning a corner on some of the worst, most abusive practices ever seen in the global mining sector.”
African Business contacted representatives of Dan Gertler for comment, but they had not responded at time of going to print.