Poor management, crumbling infrastructure, embezzlement and looting, especially during the two Great Congo Wars between 1997 and 2003, left MIBA crippled by debt and at the mercy of plummeting commodity prices. The facility was closed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis. From an annual output averaging six million carats, mainly of industrial diamonds, in the early 2000s, production was no more than 500,000 carats in 2008 and half that in 2011. Despite a resumption of operations, a decade ago, the company is still a shadow of its former glory. Mining has resumed with a view to relaunching with the help of the government. Five million dollars, a payment that Gécamine gave to Miba. The mine is operational, exploitation is under way, but at a minimal level.
$5 million dollars was released. Managers of the facility say the inadequate capital injection was to help MIBA become profitable. Buyers like Ilunga want to see much more from the government. If MIBA’s activity had really resumed, the company would have felt it, life would have resumed, money would flow. The government owes Miba a lot of money. It does not have the will to pay this debt. Set up in 1961, MIBA is 80% state-owned, with a 20 % stake by a Belgian company.