Earlier this week on the Huffington Post Mvemba Dizolele a distinguished visiting fellow at Stanford Universitys Hoover Institution wrote an extensive piece about the unintended consequences of the Dodd-Frank Conflict Minerals provisions for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

He points to the impact the measure will have on the local economy in the DRC and what is really the root of the problem. 

Here is a brief excerpt from the piece:

In eastern Congo, from Butembo in North Kivu to Nzibira in the hills of South Kivu, thousands of families now live off this informal mineral trade, which generates between $300 million and $1.4 billion a year. The long supply chain ensures that people who would otherwise be unemployed and starve have a minimal income. These people, however, are likely to pay a high price for the legislation and lose their livelihood.

On August 11th the NAMs Stephen Jacobs outlined on this blog several of the main problems with the Dodd-Frank provisions and encouraged the SEC to seek a pragmatic approach to addressing this serious issue.