Some resource-rich countries face challenges when it comes to the socio-economic development of its employees and the community at large. This study seeks to examine Gecamines' contribution to the socio-economic conditions of its employees based in the Lubumbashi area and to some extent the province of Katanga under the rubric of resource curse theory. Through this study, lessons can be learnt from the findings on how state-owned mining companies could work on improving their socio-economic contributions in the interest of the employees and the entire population through generated revenues for the state. The study employed a case study design with a qualitative approach research in its endeavour of exploring Gecamines' socio-economic contribution to its employees in the city of Lubumbashi and the development of Katanga Province as a whole. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Gecamines' managers, unskilled mine workers, and the Provincial Department of Mines' officers in the city of Lubumbashi. The key findings from these interactions are that the company's low level of production caused by poor management, political interference, corruption, and poor institutions had negative ramifications on the socio-economic conditions of the workers. A remedy to these challenges lies in strengthening the country's institutions to fight corruption and poor management of parastatals. Autonomy of parastatals from political influence and control is also important to enable the company to play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of employees.
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Empirical findings have demonstrated that some resource poor countries are performing better than certain resource rich countries. On one hand, Mehlum, Moene and Torvik, (2005) argued that, countries’ endowment in resources is a positive asset in socio-economic development of citizens and overall development of the country, while on the other hand, the same resources are considered as the source of economic stagnation, war, corruption and institutional failure (Auty, 2001; Sachs and Warner 1995, 1997a, b). For instance, in certain countries such as Canada, Norway, Australia, the United States of America and Botswana, natural resources have contributed to positive economic growth, which prompted some researchers to consider these countries as growth winners (Mehlum et al, 2005). Whereas on the other hand, a considerable number of countries on the African continent and Latin America such as Nigeria, Zambia, Sierra Leone, Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Venezuela, and so many more have performed poorly despite the presence of strategic natural resources (Auty, 2001; Boschini; Pettersson; and Roine, 2007; Sachs and Warner 1995, 1997a, b). Mehlum et al (2005) coined a term of growth losers for these countries given their failure to economically perform well despite the abundance of natural resources.
The DRC is one of the countries endowed in natural resources, however it has been doing badly in terms of the socio-economic development as a considerable number of its population lives in acute poverty. As of 2011, an estimated 87.7 percent of the population, about 67.5 million people, remained under the international poverty line, which is currently $1.25 per day. (McFerrin, 2017; Omoyi, 2010). In 2018, the World Bank estimated that 72% of the population, especially in the North West and Kasaï regions, was living in extreme poverty on less than $1.90 a day (World Bank, 2018). Despite high level of poverty and precarious conditions of the population, the DRC possesses mining giants such as la Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gecamines) that played a key role in socio-economic conditions of its employees and the entire nation. At its creation in 1906 by the colonial masters, the company was known as Union Minière du Haut Katanga (UMHK). This company first changed to La Générale Congolaise des Minerais, (Gecomin) and then Gecamines in 1967 following its nationalisation by the regime of President Mobutu Sese Seko.