Due diligence that also opens a bank account.
The Holistic Due Diligence Framework for Energy Transition Minerals lets upstream operators in the DRC digitise their own information once, then reuse it to manage risk, prove responsible sourcing, and reach both global buyers and, in a first for the sector, the local banking system.
Visit the project on NashirikiFragmented information is what keeps ASM informal.
The biggest barrier to responsible sourcing and finance in artisanal mining is not a lack of will, it is a lack of reliable, locally-sourced information. Know-your-customer and supply-chain assessments today rest on periodic, expensive third-party audits that few operators can afford, so they stay invisible to buyers and banks alike.
Holistic Due Diligence flips that. It enables mining and trade operators to digitise their own data and civil-society organisations to document local realities, then connects the two so a single verified record powers risk management, compliance, and access to markets and legitimate finance. It is an EPRM-funded project with an unprecedented collaboration with the local banking sector.
It runs on three interoperable Datastake applications: Hatua for supply-chain due diligence, Nashiriki for independent civil-society observation, and KOTA for banking onboarding. Because they share one core, a cooperative can file due diligence once in Hatua and reuse it to apply for a loan in KOTA, while a bank can cross-reference it against civil-society observations in Nashiriki.
One record, three apps.
Hatua — file due diligence
A cooperative or trader digitises its own supply-chain due diligence once, in Hatua, instead of paying for a one-off external audit that expires.
Nashiriki — corroborate it
Civil-society organisations document local realities in Nashiriki, so a buyer or bank can cross-reference that same record against independent observation.
KOTA — reuse it for a bank
The operator reuses the verified record to apply for banking services in KOTA, crowdsourcing the KYC that opens formal finance, a first for the sector.
A coalition across the value chain.
Each organisation engages from where it stands: sponsors, an implementer, a coordinator, a partner and an observer.
Fair Cobalt Alliance
UmicoreEPRM (European Partnership for Responsible Minerals) and TMB sponsor; Hive coordinates; La Sentinelle implements locally; the Fair Cobalt Alliance is a partner and Umicore an observer.
Active, and built on shared infrastructure.
HDD is an active, EPRM-funded project running in the DRC copper-cobalt belt. It is distinctive for treating due diligence not as a cost imposed from downstream but as an asset the operator owns: digitise once, reuse for compliance, market access and finance.
Because the underlying Datastake infrastructure is open and the three apps interoperate, the framework is designed to scale beyond cobalt to other energy-transition minerals, and to let new interfaces plug into the same verified records over time.
More initiatives, mapped and tracked.
Holistic Due Diligence is one of dozens of programmes in the ASM cobalt space. Browse the full register, or tell us what is missing.