Nick Kristof had a piece in the NYTimes on Saturday entitled “Death by Gadget” where he pointed out the relationship between the iPhone (and other electronic devices) and the war in Congo:

An ugly paradox of the 21st century is that some of our elegant symbols of modernity — smartphones, laptops and digital cameras — are build rom minearls that seem to be fueling mass slaughter and rape in Congo. With throngs waiting in lines in the last few days to buy the latest iPhone, I’m thinking: What if we could harness that desperation for new technologies to the desperate need to curb the killing in central Africa?

Quick Overview:

I’ve written about this relationship between the minerals (tantalum, tungsten, tin, and gold) that are used in many of our new electronic devices and are sourced from Congo — financing one of the worst civil conflicts in history. In that post, I shared an excellent mapping of the relationship between minerals and conflict in Congo developed by Appfrica:

My quick overview from that post read:

One of the major factors feeding genocide and violent crimes against humanity is that ruling regimes have established business relations with foreign companies, earning them an political ally and a source of revenue to fuel local conflict. The foreign companies often get exclusive access to local resources in exchange for their unwavering political support and usually a cut off the top. We have seen this in South Sudan with Chinese oil companies, and also in DRC with Coltan mining. This excellent report by Appfrica takes Ushahidi (conflict mapping) data and mashes it with mining data to illustrate the “conspicuous correlation” between the two. Coltan can be found in the capacitors used in your hearing aids, pacemakers, airbags, GPS units, laptops, mobile phones, video games, and the list goes on. 60% of it can be found in the DRC, where conflicts since 1998 have killed an estimated 5.4 million people.

A Few Videos:

Here are a few of my favorite videos highlighting conflict minerals from Congo:

Note: This first one is new and cited in the Kristof article:

This one is of John Prendergast — a fellow American University alumn and co-founder of Enough Project (one of the major advocacy voices behind conflict minerals in Congo):

And this video is the winning entry for the “Come Clean 4 Congo” video contest:

Questions for Discussion:

Tying this all back to the Kristof article, I’m curious how we can leverage the massive consumer demand for these new technologies to combat the atrocities that are taking place in Congo.

1. Is demanding that companies not source these minerals from Congo enough? Does that really help? Or does it further hurt the current and future prospects of the Congolese economy?
2. Is there a way that companies can take greater control of the value chain within Congo to ensure that their purchase does more good than harm?
3. What role does the government play in regulating these conflict minerals? Should the US put a trade embargo on them?

Photo Credit: Flickr User ArdailSmith

I had the privilege to meet Paul Sika a few weeks ago at AfricaGathering in DC, and was instantly inspired by his charisma and vision. Paul is a photographer and emerging businessman from Cote d’Ivoire. He gave an amazing talk at the conference that not only reflected his lighthearted and energetic personality, but also a deep understanding and vision of the world around him (and all of us!). He’s been on a whirlwind tour here in the US — first joining us in DC for AfricaGathering, then doing an interview on CNN (see below!), and speaking with Google Executives in Mountain View, California!

Paul is soon going to be releasing a book of his photographs called “At the Heart of Me”, that I’ve had an opportunity to flip through and can highly recommend! Here’s a YouTube video promoting the new book:

If you’re interested, you can follow Paul on Twitter @paulsika and check out his website at http://paulsika.com

I had an opportunity recently to share an introductory presentation on social intra/entrepreneurship with a class of high school seniors at The Culver Academies on March 10, 2010. These students were sharp and did a great job of outlining the case for “Good Business” at the beginning of the presentation and asked fantastic questions throughout! Despite a few technical glitches (Mac vs. Windows), I think the presentation went very well — all thanks to the students’ awesome participation.

At the risk of being fact-checked, I’ve posted video of my presentation (available exclusively through blip.tv and iTunes this time) as well as the SlideShare of the presentation itself. In fact, I want you to fact-check the presentation and leave your comments on this page!

I know the video is long, but I hope there is some value in it for some readers!

The Presentation Itself:

Videos Embedded in Presentation:

1.) TOMS Shoes

2.) D.Light

3.) VisionSpring

C.K. Prahalad, author of “The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid”, spoke to the 2009 class of Acumen Fellows providing perspective and insight into working among the poorest in the world.

Key points:

• Don’t do it for guilt or morality, do it for intellectual stimulation
• Leadership is about the future, change, and opportunity
• Thinking out of the box vs. Creating A New Box!
• It takes good business acumen, technology, and imagination to create unique powerful solutions
• Look at poverty and imagine a very different world

What do you draw most from what Prahalad has to say?

A couple of weeks ago I shared the above image put together by Appfrica Labs that illustrates the “conspicuous correlation” between conflict areas and mining of coltan deposits (minerals used in many of our electronic devices). I wrote this quick analysis:

One of the major factors feeding genocide and violent crimes against humanity is that ruling regimes have established business relations with foreign companies, earning them an political ally and a source of revenue to fuel local conflict. The foreign companies often get exclusive access to local resources in exchange for their unwavering political support and usually a cut off the top. We have seen this in South Sudan with Chinese oil companies, and also in DRC with Coltan mining. This excellent report by Appfrica takes Ushahidi (conflict mapping) data and mashes it with mining data to illustrate the “conspicuous correlation” between the two. Coltan can be found in the capacitors used in your hearing aids, pacemakers, airbags, GPS units, laptops, mobile phones, video games, and the list goes on. 60% of it can be found in the DRC, where conflicts since 1998 have killed an estimated 5.4 million people.

A leading voice in the movement against genocide and humanitarian atrocity is The Enough Project. This organization, led by lifetime activist and fellow AU alum John Prendergast, works to generate awareness and lead the policy discussion around these serious global issues. A couple videos on YouTube really stood out today, and I wanted to share them with you so that hopefully you can share them with your friends, families, and blogging audiences. The first is “Conflict Minerals 101″ with John Prendergast himself providing an overview of the situation in Congo and how it relates to our electronic devices (and what we can do)!

The second video is the winner of Enough’s “Come Clean 4 Congo” video contest — very well done and a great movie to pass along on your Facebook wall or your own websites!

Please, help pass the message along to your own sphere’s of influence! Also, be sure to keep tabs with Enough Project via:

• Enough Project’s Website
• Enough Project’s Twitter
• Enough Project’s Facebook Page
• Enough Project’s YouTube Channel

I’m a strong critic of our current system for US Foreign Assistance and its systemic inability to effect sustainable social change on a scale worthy of the amounts we invest. This documentary, “What Are We Doing Here?” travels to through the developing world to ask the tough questions about our foreign assistance programs. This is a great CNN interview that provides a good overview of the film. You can visit their website to purchase the documentary for $25.

This video takes a look at the emerging wind-energy sector in China, as the country sets itself up to be a global leader in the development and use of this emerging technology.

I strongly believe that the green energy sector will drive the economies of tomorrow. Every time an election comes around here in the US, we hear bitter remarks of how globalization has driven away our jobs. Factories have moved overseas. Yet the promises made by politicians involve quasi-isolationist policies to “bring back our factories and jobs”. I wrote yesterday about the digital media market, and how we continually look backwards with nostalgia for what we once had. This is the absolute wrong type of thinking, and its harmful when our politicians stoke these backwards sentiments. President Obama has promised to invest in the green energy sector, but we have little to show for this enthusiasm. The problem is that even with the political will-power, our country has entrenched itself in a position adverse to innovation and moving forward.

The book I just finished reading, Capitalism at the Crossroads, talks very clearly about this issue. Because the US economy is already built around an oil-centric infrastructure, the expense of developing and introducing disruptive new technologies outside of that framework is extremely difficult and costly. For instance, the introduction of a hydrogen-powered car requires special fueling stations. The innovation of the car is offset by the complexity and cost of building a supportive infrastructure around it.

The book suggests that developing countries provide a better environment for developing and incubating these new technologies (like the hydrogen-powered car or the windmill) because you can build the supporting infrastructure without needing to disrupt a deeply entrenched system.

This is one of many reasons I believe the developing world will serve as a bastion for innovation in the future.

What a fast-paced and evolving world we live in!

Following my post yesterday on Sustainable Health Enterprises (SHE), a friend shared with me “The Girl Effect”. I’ll let the video speak for itself!

• The Girl Effect Website
• The Girl Effect Facebook Fan Page