In an investigation that was carried out by Amnesty International and Afrewatch, with the latter being a non-governmental organization based in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it seems that there is a very real possibility of suppliers working with some of the largest technology companies and car manufacturers could be contravening a very big taboo in the modern era – that of child labor employment in Africa. It is said that the cobalt provided by suppliers were mined by children who are as young as seven, and not only Samsung might be the victim here, but the likes of Microsoft, Apple, Volkswagen and Daimler AG too could be part of the picture.
Samsung SDI, which is Samsung’s division that churns out batteries as well as for clients like Apple, mentioned that it is “impossible” to know if its cobalt is sourced from the DRC, citing that CDM (Congo Dongfang Mining) and Huayou are not in its supply chain. It did give a nod to its relationship with L&F Material, who is a battery maker based in South Korea which has connected in the report, although Samsung claims that Japan is the source of its materials.
Do take note, however, that Amnesty did mention that none of the companies it contacted provided adequate information in order to verify whether the country of origin for the cobalt supply is indeed from areas where child labor is employed.