Downstream company

Google

Technology company named as a financer of Cobalt for Development in Volkswagen's release of 19 November 2020, which MINING.COM repeated the same day. That release is the single source: C4D's Lessons Learned Paper never names Google, and BASF's page lists BASF, BMW, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and, from 2020, Volkswagen, calling the project fully privately financed. Bon Pasteur Kolwezi's 2024–2028 strategic plan also names Google among the funders of its Kolwezi programme, and Google appears on the Fair Cobalt Alliance's own member roll.

Sources support the description and the individual connections below. Publication and checking dates belong to the evidence: when it was published, and when this Hub last read it.

Documented relationships

Reported means the cited source describes the relationship at its evidence date. Historical relationships refer to an earlier period. Announced agreements may not have been implemented. None of these labels confirms that trade continues today.

  • Reported · Evidence as of 2024

    Funds

    Named among the programme's international funders in Bon Pasteur Kolwezi's 2024–2028 plan, the single source.

    1 source
    1. Bon Pasteur Kolwezi Theory of Change – Strategic Plan 2024-2028

      Bon Pasteur Kolwezi / Good Shepherd International Foundation · Published 2024 · Checked 2026-09-21

      The BP Kolwezi Programme is funded by various international funding actors, including Misean Cara, ERG, Mercedes Benz, GIZ, Missio Austria, Google, Begeca and Manos Unidas.

      p.46.

  • Historical · Evidence as of 2020-11-19

    Funds

    Volkswagen's release of 19 November 2020 lists Google among the project's financers, and MINING.COM repeated it word for word; this is a single source. C4D's paper and BASF's account of the project never name Google.

    2 sources
    1. Volkswagen joins cobalt group supporting artisanal DRC miners

      MINING.COM · Published 2020-11-19 · Checked 2026-09-21

      The project is being implemented by GIZ and financed by BASF, BMW Group, Google, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and Volkswagen.

      Paragraph 4. The article repeats Volkswagen’s release word for word and adds no independent confirmation.

    2. Volkswagen engages in improving working conditions in artisanal cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo

      Volkswagen Group · Published 2020-11-19 · Checked 2026-09-21

      The project is being implemented by GIZ and financed by BASF, BMW Group, Google, Samsung Electronics, Samsung SDI and Volkswagen.

      Paragraph 2. The release also says Volkswagen “does not accept cobalt from artisanal mines”.