Community Development

To date, Anvil has contributed in excess of $22 million to community development and livelihood improvement projects. Such projects have included:

Education - The  Company has built 8 schools and renovated 10 in the region around its projects, where Anvil continues to provide equipment and contributions to running costs.

Regional business - Working with DRC enterprises, Anvil is helping to establish a strong, competitive service sector, providing construction and maintenance support for the operations.

Local business - The Company has constructed three permanent market places to provide well-designed stalls for more than 200 local micro-enterprises. At the same time, 10 Women’s Savings Groups with 315 members have been established to develop savings and micro-enterprise networks, reinforced with literacy and numeracy classes. At Kinsevere in 2009, the Company established a co-operative gravel making venture to provide safe, alternative employment for artisanal miners. Using Donor contributions, Anvil and its partners are creating additional research and pilot projects for alternative employment, in part, to prevent the exploitation of child labour.

Water supplies - In an extensive program to improve local water supplies, Anvil has installed more than 50 water wells in more than 20 communities. This initiative has provided clean drinking water for local residents, significantly reducing the common adverse health effects of other contaminated water. Construction of a 14km gravity-fed water pipeline for the Pweto village, north of Mweru Lake, to bring water to an estimated population of over 26,000 was completed in 2009 at a cost of over $3 million. To support the sustainability of these efforts, water management committees have been established – and committees have been provided with technical training. More Information

Health - Community health programs include the establishment of community clinics and the refurbishment of district hospitals in Kilwa and Kolwezi.

Agriculture - The  Company established 40 Farmers Contact groups representing 1,780 farmers. Advice, training and multiplications sites helped to produce 20 tons of peanut, bean, soybean, sunflower and vegetables in the initial agricultural support programs.

Infrastructure - Anvil’s projects have included Company-funded public roads, bridges and power supplies. In addition, the Company is working with local government institutions to develop infrastructure that will support responsible resource investment and development. This includes a commitment to provide $5 million of financing assistance to the DRC electricity company, Société Nationale Électrique (SNEL), to be amortized against Anvil’s power usage at Kinsevere. In a similar project, Anvil is installing electrical infrastructure in Lubumbashi for the supply of electrical power to Kinsevere, which SNEL will own and for which Anvil will be reimbursed. The Company has also contributed $200,000 towards the necessary upgrading of the Luano Airport at Lubumbashi to improve the transportation network of the Katanga province. The Company has also invested over $5 million towards refurbishing the National Road #5 between Kilwa and Kasemeno, a distance of 192 km.