A 7-YEAR OLD AFRICAN CHILD POWERS YOUR GADGET

Everyone wants a smartphone, we love the prices of our smartphones, we are eager to tell our friends the prices we bought them, we love our iPhones because we are happy we can afford them, we love iPhones because....well it is an iPhone and classy. Smartphone companies are even more excited we love their products. But have you ever bothered to know how these products came about? Better still, do you know it's supply chain?


On February 1 Apple Inc. recorded a quarterly revenue of $78.35 billion and a net income of $17.89billion,[Source: macworld.co.uk] despite the drop in profit(from $18.36 billion) in 2016 quarterly review, it isn't wrong to say Apple Inc. money circulation is roughly 9 times that of the Central African Republic with the GDP(PPP) of $3.5 Billion(2017, estimate) [Source: International Monetary Fund(IMF) World Economic Outlook(WEO) database, October 2014]. Samsung Inc. another top smartphone company recorded aprofit of $7.92 billion in last year's quarterly review, its biggest leap in profits in 3 years.[Source: techcrunch.com]

The Democratic Republic of Congo's 2016 nominal GDP was $41.21Billion

Why did l mention the Democratic Republic of Congo? Because your smart phone is probably powered by a mineral resource in Central Africa, most especially the Democratic Republic of Congo! How? You might want to ask.

The Democratic Republic of Congo in Central Africa, is the world's top cobalt producer, they account for more than 50% of the world's top Cobalt supply and your smart phone's rechargeable battery is dependent on it for power, this Cobalt is mostly found in minerals and is the key component in lithium-ion rechargeable batteries that power electronics like your smartphones, laptops and even electric cars but the question is, who mines these mineral? Who are these people that go to the mines? How are they treated? What is the average age of those miners? How much are they paid?

"Millions of people enjoy the benefits of new technologies but rarely ask how they are made" said Mark Dummett, a human right reseacher at Amnesty International, he further said "The glamorous shop displays and marketing of state of the art technologies are a stark contrast to the children carrying bags of rocks, and miners in narrow manmade tunnels risking permanent lung damage." Now you have an idea of who mines for the key element of the phone you are presently holding and how they are being treated.

These children of ages 7-12 in DRC are paid next to nothing to work in mines for long hours, according to the Amnesty International, they are paid no more than $1-$2(1000 to 2000 Congolese Francs) per day for 12 hour shifts, sometimes they are forced to work on weekends and during holidays, without any protective gears, no gloves or face masks despite working in a dangerous place like a mine!

Paul of age 14 told researchers he also worked underground and recalled working 24 hours in dangerous tunnels. Another child labourer claimed he has been working from age 7.

Cobalt itself poses dangers to the health, long exposure to its dust can cause respiratory problems, according to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) diseases like asthma, shortness of breath, dermatitis and a much serious one hard metal lung disease are some of the risks associated wth extended exposure to this substance.

It didn't come as a surprise when Dany, a 15 year old miner complained about a recurring illness. "There is lots of dust, it is very easy to catch colds, and we hurt all over."

Young boys working in a mine

Not only are these children underpaid, they are malnourished, subjected to "physical abuse, sexual exploitation and violence, security guards would often beat them to collect some Francs from these overworked companies.

So the question is...what is Apple, Samsung, Sony, Microsoft and all other gadget makers business in all of these? The fact is 20% of the Cobalt exported from DRC are from the Southern Katanga region, the Cobalt mined off the backs of these children in these region are sold to Congo Dongfang Mining International (CDM) which is owned by a Chinese mineral company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt Company Ltd which is arguably the world's leading manufacturers of cobalt products and this Huayou cobalt company in turn supplies their cobalt-component products to top electronics companies. So I may ask, who are the top electronics companies if not Microsoft, Apple, Samsung, Sony mobiles etc?

The amazing thing is each of these smartphone companies denied having any relations to child labour whatsoever:

Apple claimed underage labour was "never tolerated in our supply chain and we are proud to have led the industry in pioneering new safeguards". The company even went on to say it was "actively looking for any violations".

Microsoft said it does not "tolerate the use of child, involuntarily or forced labour" in its supply chain but could not give "absolute assurance" whether the cobalt in its products can be traced to the Katanga region.

Samsung claimed there has never been any case as  such "up until now, there has been no case of child labour violations reported or detected from Samsung's SDI's plants or suppliers".

Sony commented: "We are working with the suppliers to address issues related to human rights and labour conditions at the production sites, as well as in the procurement of minerals and other raw materials."

"It is a major paradox of the digital era that some of the world's richest, most innovative companies are able to market incredibly sophisticated devices without being required to show where they source raw materials for their components," said executive director of Afrewatch (Africa Resources Watch) Emmanuel Umpula.

There is more...Apple products especially the iPhone and iPads are not manufactured in the US but in companies in China, one of which is Foxconn which has a factory in Shenzhen that employs up to 430,000 workers including children(child labour laws are not as strict as in the US). Just as the miners in the DRC, workers are underpaid and can't even afford an iPhone or iPad which they produce. The Chinese work day is 8 hours long but standard shift is 12 hours which may extend to 14-16 hours especially when there's a new gadget to build.

One of the workers at got his hand crushed in a metal press at Foxconn. Foxconn did not give him medical attention. When the man's hand healed, it no longer worked. So they fired him. This man, by the way, made the metal casings of iPads at Foxconn. He was shown an iPad by his interviewer. The man had never seen one before. He held it and played with it. He said it was "magic.". He's been making metal casings of iPad yet never saw one worse still couldn't afford one.

a Foxconn worker

There's more, within half a year, Foxconn records nothing less than 9 suicide attempts and at least 7 deaths. The only thing the workers do is go to work, stress themselves out at work, go back home, sleep, wake up and repeat the cycle, the only way these workers know how to end this cycle is to end their lives. Workers even claimed they envied sick workers on sick leaves. During working hours, some workers confessed they occasionally drop things intentionally on the ground so as to get a chance to simply squat, they confessed that a simple occasional squat during work hours is the sweetest moment of their lives.

The question is why did they decide to assemble their products in a far away land? It's all business! It would cost them more if a company like Foxconn operated in the United States or even Europe because those countries have established minimum acceptable standards for the treatment and pay of workers. Profits made by the company will likely go down and the prices will in turn rise, therefore China was the closest resort for cheap labour.

It's a pity that the Smartphone devices we love to own, the one we hold up to take a selfie is being produces by the agony of children and overworked workers.

So when next you hold a Smart phone, you should know just what you are holding.

The overwhelming fact is if Apple Inc. decides to assemble and manufacture these parts even in the US, the company will still make profits, boasting of a mouth-watering profit, it shouldn't be much of a problem to them.

This shouldn't come as a surprise to the enlightened ones with a deep understanding of capitalism. Companies would do just anything to make more profits to themselves.


Sadly, this is the challenge we are faced with, it's time this inhumane acts stopped!

Be enlightened, broaden your horizon. Peace...