CSR and development: a mining company in Africa

Purpose – This case study seeks to present the CSR activity of a mining company in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the conflict between the company and its local stakeholders. The company promotes an enlightened CSR, focused on the promotion of individuals' rights; but the local population has inherited a paternalistic mindset, which clashes with this enlightened approach. Design/methodology/approach – The conflict is presented and analyzed at three levels: company‐government, company‐local communities, and company‐local employees. The cultural change necessary to address the conflict involves fundamental questions in SGM's business model: strategy, structure and mainly purpose, processes and culture. Findings – The company needs to design individual and industry‐wide strategies to tackle the problems with the Central Government; develop dialogues with key leaders of local communities in order to promote with them an enlightened culture of CSR and of development; and change the processes to diffuse and eventually modify the company values affecting local employees. Originality/value – Research on CSR in the Democratic Republic of Congo, specifically in the Katanga province, is very scarce, even if mining companies are starting to operate in that Province, raising important problems in terms of development and cultural change. In spite of several problems, SGM is a case of good practice that can inspire other mining companies or extractive industries in developing countries.