ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Bandi Mbubi - Social Justice Activist
Bandi Mbubi would like to make sure that you are using a fair trade cell phone.

Why you should listen

Bandi Mbubi grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, experiencing first hand the political unrest and oppression which have since worsened there. As a student activist, Bandi suffered persecution and fled the country, seeking political asylum in the U.K. But Mbubi has kept his home country on his radar, noting how the mining of tantalum -- a mineral used in cell phones and computers -- has fueled the ongoing war there in which 5 million have died.

While Mbubi sees the cell phone as an instrument of oppression for this reason, he knows that phones can also bring great freedom. And so he has formed CongoCalling.org, a campaign to inspire both the public and companies that make electronics to pay attention to how tantalum used in consumer electronics is mined and traded.

Mbubi is also the Director of the Manna Society, a center for the homeless in South London, and a Trustee of Church Action on Poverty.

 

More profile about the speaker
Bandi Mbubi | Speaker | TED.com
TEDxExeter

Bandi Mbubi: Demand a fair trade cell phone

Filmed:
621,348 views

Your mobile phone, computer and game console have a bloody past — tied to tantalum mining, which funds the war in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Drawing on his personal story, activist and refugee Bandi Mbubi gives a stirring call to action.
- Social Justice Activist
Bandi Mbubi would like to make sure that you are using a fair trade cell phone. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:17
I want to talk to you today
0
1147
1963
00:19
about a difficult topic that is close to me,
1
3110
3152
00:22
and closer than you might realize to you.
2
6262
4008
00:26
I came to the U.K. 21 years ago
3
10270
3799
00:29
as an asylum-seeker.
4
14069
2977
00:32
I was 21.
5
17046
1567
00:34
I was forced to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
6
18613
4216
00:38
my home, where I was a student activist.
7
22829
5449
00:44
I would love my children to be able to meet my family
8
28278
2827
00:47
in the Congo.
9
31105
4684
00:51
But I want to tell you what the Congo has got to do with you.
10
35789
5209
00:56
But first of all, I want you to do me a favor.
11
40998
3975
01:00
Can you all please reach into your pockets
12
44973
3124
01:03
and take out your mobile phone?
13
48097
5062
01:09
Feel that familiar weight,
14
53159
5264
01:14
how naturally your finger slides towards the buttons.
15
58423
3191
01:17
(Laughter)
16
61614
2745
01:20
Can you imagine your world without it?
17
64359
2193
01:22
It connects us to our loved ones,
18
66552
2763
01:25
our family, friends and colleagues,
19
69315
3450
01:28
at home and overseas.
20
72765
2585
01:31
It is a symbol of an interconnected world.
21
75350
4564
01:35
But what you hold in your hand leaves a bloody trail,
22
79914
5669
01:41
and it all boils down to a mineral:
23
85583
4048
01:45
tantalum, mined in the Congo as coltan.
24
89631
4493
01:50
It is an anticorrosive heat conductor.
25
94124
3895
01:53
It stores energy in our mobile phones,
26
98019
3488
01:57
Playstations and laptops.
27
101507
3117
02:00
It is used in aerospace and medical equipment
28
104624
4329
02:04
as alloys.
29
108953
1805
02:06
It is so powerful
30
110758
2056
02:08
that we only need tiny amounts.
31
112814
3000
02:11
It would be great if the story ended there.
32
115814
3937
02:15
Unfortunately, what you hold in your hand
33
119751
3796
02:19
has not only enabled incredible technological development
34
123547
5530
02:24
and industrial expansion,
35
129077
3136
02:28
but it has also contributed to unimaginable
36
132213
3408
02:31
human suffering.
37
135621
2496
02:34
Since 1996, over five million people have died
38
138117
5769
02:39
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
39
143886
3152
02:42
Countless women, men and children
40
147038
2711
02:45
have been raped, tortured or enslaved.
41
149749
4991
02:50
Rape is used as a weapon of war,
42
154740
2924
02:53
instilling fear
43
157664
2826
02:56
and depopulating whole areas.
44
160490
2977
02:59
The quest for extracting this mineral
45
163467
3121
03:02
has not only aided, but it has fueled,
46
166588
4856
03:07
the ongoing war in the Congo.
47
171444
5831
03:13
But don't throw away your phones yet.
48
177275
2803
03:15
Thirty thousand children are enlisted
49
180078
4341
03:20
and are made to fight in armed groups.
50
184419
5189
03:25
The Congo consistently scores dreadfully
51
189608
4531
03:30
in global health and poverty rankings.
52
194139
4253
03:34
But remarkably, the U.N. Environmental Programme
53
198392
4575
03:38
has estimated the wealth of the country
54
202967
2724
03:41
to be over 24 trillion dollars.
55
205691
9408
03:50
The state-regulated mining industry has collapsed,
56
215099
4627
03:55
and control over mines
57
219726
2239
03:57
has splintered.
58
221965
1387
03:59
Coltan is easily controlled by armed groups.
59
223352
4142
04:03
One well-known illicit trade route
60
227494
3232
04:06
is that across the border to Rwanda,
61
230726
2528
04:09
where Congolese tantalum is disguised as Rwandan.
62
233254
4415
04:13
But don't throw away your phones yet,
63
237669
3212
04:16
because the incredible irony is that
64
240881
2693
04:19
the technology that has placed such unsustainable,
65
243574
3532
04:23
devastating demands on the Congo
66
247106
2608
04:25
is the same technology
67
249714
3060
04:28
that has brought this situation to our attention.
68
252774
3632
04:32
We only know so much about the situation in the Congo
69
256406
3828
04:36
and in the mines
70
260234
1511
04:37
because of the kind of communication
71
261745
2039
04:39
the mobile phone allows.
72
263784
4441
04:44
As with the Arab Spring,
73
268225
2302
04:46
during the recent elections in the Congo,
74
270527
3210
04:49
voters were able to send text messages
75
273737
4040
04:53
of local polling stations to the headquarters
76
277777
3158
04:56
in the capital, Kinshasa,
77
280935
3738
05:00
and in the wake of the result,
78
284673
5354
05:05
the diaspora has joined with the Carter Center,
79
290027
3134
05:09
the Catholic Church and other observers
80
293161
3519
05:12
to draw attention to the undemocratic result.
81
296680
4856
05:17
The mobile phone has given people around the world
82
301536
5547
05:22
an important tool towards gaining their political freedom.
83
307083
5882
05:28
It has truly revolutionized the way
84
312965
3026
05:31
we communicate on the planet.
85
315991
2573
05:34
It has allowed momentous political change
86
318564
3287
05:37
to take place.
87
321851
2488
05:40
So
88
324339
1643
05:41
we are faced with a paradox.
89
325982
4429
05:46
The mobile phone is an instrument of freedom
90
330411
4159
05:50
and an instrument of oppression.
91
334570
4937
05:55
TED has always
92
339507
2831
05:58
celebrated what technology can do for us,
93
342338
4072
06:02
technology in its finished form.
94
346410
2441
06:04
It is time
95
348851
2184
06:06
to be asking questions about technology.
96
351035
3657
06:10
Where does it come from?
97
354692
2133
06:12
Who makes it?
98
356825
2773
06:15
And for what?
99
359598
2980
06:18
Here I am speaking directly to you,
100
362578
3152
06:21
the TED community,
101
365730
2128
06:23
and to all those who might be watching on a screen,
102
367858
3456
06:27
on your phone, across the world,
103
371314
3648
06:30
in the Congo.
104
374962
2416
06:33
All the technology is in place for us to communicate,
105
377378
4254
06:37
and all the technology is in place to communicate this.
106
381632
6465
06:43
At the moment,
107
388097
2274
06:46
there is no clear fair trade solution,
108
390371
4916
06:51
but there has been a huge amount of progress.
109
395287
3440
06:54
The U.S. has recently passed legislation
110
398727
3249
06:57
to target bribery and misconduct in the Congo.
111
401976
4191
07:02
Recent U.K. legislation could be used in the same way.
112
406167
5078
07:07
In February, Nokia unveiled its new policy
113
411245
3952
07:11
on sourcing minerals in the Congo,
114
415197
2808
07:13
and there is a petition to Apple
115
418005
2424
07:16
to make a conflict-free iPhone.
116
420429
5637
07:21
There are campaigns
117
426066
1959
07:23
spreading across university campuses
118
428025
2852
07:26
to make their colleges conflict-free.
119
430877
3121
07:29
But we're not there yet.
120
433998
2495
07:32
We need to continue mounting pressure
121
436493
3200
07:35
on phone companies
122
439693
2843
07:38
to change their sourcing processes.
123
442536
3970
07:42
When I first came to the U.K. 21 years ago,
124
446506
3768
07:46
I was homesick.
125
450274
2163
07:48
I missed my family and the friends I left behind.
126
452437
5408
07:53
Communication was extremely difficult.
127
457845
3622
07:57
Sending and receiving letters took months,
128
461467
3728
08:01
if you were lucky. Often they never arrived.
129
465195
4307
08:05
Even if I could have afforded
130
469502
2731
08:08
the phone bills home,
131
472233
3119
08:11
like most people in the Congo,
132
475352
2603
08:13
my parents did not own a phone line.
133
477955
3821
08:17
Today, my two sons
134
481776
5683
08:23
David and Daniel
135
487459
2901
08:26
can talk to my parents and get to know them.
136
490360
6844
08:33
Why should we allow
137
497204
3400
08:36
such a wonderful, brilliant and necessary product
138
500604
7042
08:43
to be the cause of unnecessary suffering
139
507646
3297
08:46
for human beings?
140
510943
3217
08:50
We demand fair trade food
141
514160
3447
08:53
and fair trade clothes.
142
517607
1689
08:55
It is time to demand fair trade phones.
143
519296
4727
08:59
This is an idea worth spreading. Thank you.
144
524023
4593
09:04
(Applause)
145
528616
12277
Translated by Joseph Geni
Reviewed by Morton Bast

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Bandi Mbubi - Social Justice Activist
Bandi Mbubi would like to make sure that you are using a fair trade cell phone.

Why you should listen

Bandi Mbubi grew up in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, formerly Zaire, experiencing first hand the political unrest and oppression which have since worsened there. As a student activist, Bandi suffered persecution and fled the country, seeking political asylum in the U.K. But Mbubi has kept his home country on his radar, noting how the mining of tantalum -- a mineral used in cell phones and computers -- has fueled the ongoing war there in which 5 million have died.

While Mbubi sees the cell phone as an instrument of oppression for this reason, he knows that phones can also bring great freedom. And so he has formed CongoCalling.org, a campaign to inspire both the public and companies that make electronics to pay attention to how tantalum used in consumer electronics is mined and traded.

Mbubi is also the Director of the Manna Society, a center for the homeless in South London, and a Trustee of Church Action on Poverty.

 

More profile about the speaker
Bandi Mbubi | Speaker | TED.com