PART TWO: A Trump-like businessman and his brothers cash in on DRC’s Resources
By Linda Ngari
This article is the second of a two-part investigative series produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center Rainforest Investigations Network in collaboration with the Latin American Center for Investigative Journalism (CLIP). Read the first part here.
Litete Emmanuel is a dad of seven. The 42-year-old was born and raised in Yafunga village, located in DRC’s Isangi territory. His children are among the 104 kids that learn at the school built by Safbois from their proceeds off a logging-turned-carbon-offsetting project. On a Thursday afternoon, Litete sits by a fireplace outside his mud house. A high school graduate, he now spends most of his time by the same fireside since he stopped farming years ago. His farmland is part of the Isangi REDD+ project, whose ownership was signed off to American businessman, Daniel Blattner, the managing director at Jadora and Safbois, companies he owns with his brothers. Société Africaine de Bois (Safbois) began its activities in Yafunga, among other villages, in 2004.
According to the Isangi REDD+ project document, Safbois entered into an agreement with Jadora, granting Jadora full control of the project area within its logging concession in September 2009. This effectively relinquished the land that was initially allocated for logging to one that conserves the forest so as to sell carbon credits. Logging activities in the area stopped in 2011, the project document states. Consequently, Verra approved the project to start selling carbon credits in September 2014. In May 2015, the project sold its first carbon credits. However, it was not until December 2019 when communities signed a contract consenting to their land being used for the Isangi REDD+ project.
Residents were told that their land would be managed differently, and to cement this, they needed to sign agreements that would effectively cede control of their land. “We cannot do anything with the land since they came”, Litete says. “When they came, they told us they were not exactly a company, but were just following Safbois,” he adds, referring to how they were told that the commercial logging enterprise run by Safbois was transforming into a carbon offsetting project under Jadora.
The Blattners are members of a rich American family that have amassed wealth from investing in different sectors in DRC since the 80’s. Some of their activities in DRC have warranted legal redress, like the arrest of David Blattner in 2020, as one of the directors of a construction company, Societe Africaine de Construction au Congo (Safricas). David was accused of embezzling public funds allocated to building flyovers, as contracted by the DRC government. According to a report by L’Intreview.cd, the Kinshasa-Gombe Court of Appeal sentenced David to 20 years of forced labor in February 2021 and ordered him to pay over USD800,000 in restitution. It is unclear whether David actually served his sentence. Safricas seemingly attracted major contracts, as it was previously awarded six contracts by the World Bank, including one for the construction of the Goma Airport. David is also a shareholder at Safbois, the project proponent for Isangi REDD+. He co-owns Safbois with brothers Daniel Blattner and James Blattner.
According to Verra’s regulations, local communities must be informed about projects before implementation. It appears that Isangi REDD+ violated these guidelines, as well as DRC national laws, by waiting until five years after the project began before informing residents. The project proponent created the Isangi REDD+ Facebook page in March 2019, where they began showcasing their Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) initiatives.
A report by Mongabay also found that the Isangi REDD+ project did not declare its finances to the national REDD+ registry- in violation of DRC’s REDD+ policy. Locals also had no idea that carbon credits had been sold as of March 2022, the Mongabay report added, despite the project having sold its first credits in May 2015. Today, locals are still puzzled about how carbon credits work. Litete said, “We don’t know anything about carbon credits. We don’t understand how it works. They keep telling us that they are using satellites, and it shows we’re extracting carbon. But we don’t have any tools, we don’t have anything.”
A copy of the 2019 contract, attached below, signed by Daniel Blattner and 39 chiefs representing different villages in Isangi territory shows that communities were promised 30 “modern school buildings”, 10 health centers, “traditional rights” (which residents clarified was payment of USD300 per village per year), among other promises (See Article 9 on page 6 in the contract below). In exchange, Article 19 of the agreement (Page 5) states that the community would refrain from any activities including agricultural, pastoral or logging activities.
“The Jadora/Safbois company, is represented by Mr Daniel Blattner, the Statutory Managing Director herein referred to as the holder of the REDD+ project holds forest concessions No. 007/11 and No. 008/11 of Safbois in the territory of Isangi, and whose limits are described in the Partnership Contract above”, the contract reads on Page 3.
Inconsistent records appear to be a common characteristic of the Isangi REDD+ project. For example, the size of land allocated to the project is different across different project documents. The project area is 187,571 hectares according to Verra records, but the DRC ministry records show two concessions: one spanning 73,278 hectares, and another 243,408 hectares (a total of 316,686 hectares). The same project is also 348,000 hectares according to the document submitted to the Climate, Community & Biodiversity Alliance (CCBA).
The ownership of companies involved is also ambiguous. A project monitoring report indicates that Safbois owner Donald Tuttle died, leaving Daniel Blattner as the owner of both Safbois and Jadora in May 2018. Yet The Guardian’s 2007 report quotes Daniel Blattner as the owner of Safbois and his brother David Blattner as the financial director. This is notwithstanding a third contradicting report based on the CCBA project design document, which lists Daniel, David and James Blattner as shareholders at Safbois.
According to The Guardian’s 2007 report, Safbois had not built the three schools and hospitals, construct roads, or offer jobs they promised the people of Yafunga in a September 2004 agreement for a logging concession. Today, residents point to the one dilapidated school as the only lasting benefit they got. Experts say that this reneging of responsibilities is not uncommon, and companies are known to either completely walk back their commitment to communities or offer very little if anything. A logging company once gave a community bars of soap, packets of soup, bottles of beer and bags of sugar as payment for their land concessions, The Guardian reported in 2007.
“The schools built by these companies are not sustainable in terms of infrastructure and quality. I just hope those schools still exist,” said Professor Justin Kyale Koi, a Political Science Lecturer at the University of Kisangani.
“When these companies acquired the concessions, the land held little value to the communities. This is evident in the agreements, where the promises made were often unreasonable. For example, some claimed that “even if the trees were cut, there would still be plenty left. This is why I didn’t ask for much.” But now they [villagers] see that these companies make too much profit so they want to change everything”, added the professor.
Professor Koi also explained the specifications of DRC’s policy on the REDD+ benefit-sharing mechanism, which breaks down how profits from carbon credit sales should be distributed. The policy was made law in 2023, after projects like Isangi REDD+ had been running for almost a decade.
“The regulations on the carbon market in DRC are outlined in Law Code 006 15/11/2023, which specifies the distribution of benefits. Article 5 highlights that 50% of the benefits are allocated to the public sector, 25% to the province, and of this 25%, only 10% goes to the entity related to the concession (the project proponent). With just 10% in a market that involves many intermediaries, the question is, are the communities properly educated and equipped to manage these funds?”
The concession system, where companies and individuals are granted the right to use natural resources for a certain period of time with the payment of a concession fee, is common in Francophone Africa. Investors in this system are required to compensate the governments and communities whose land they take to generate revenue. The system dates back to the colonial era when King Leopold invited companies to do whatever they liked with the land of then named “Congo Free State” as long as he got 50% of the income. Local communities on the other hand were offered “gifts”, which were often of little value. Congo Free State was the private property of King Leopold from 1885 to 1908. It was later renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) when Laurent-Désiré Kabila became president in 1997. It also briefly went by the name ‘Belgian Congo’, when ruled by the Belgian government after King Leopold, and then ‘Zaire’, during Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime who was succeeded by Laurent-Désiré Kabila.
In January 2024, DRC’s Ministry for Environment and Sustainable Development ordered the termination of the Isangi REDD+ project for failing to follow procedure in converting a logging concession to a conservation concession. At this point, the Blattners had initiated a bigger REDD+ project in September 2020, strategically positioned at the border of Isangi REDD+. They also built seven more classrooms next to the dilapidated classrooms previously built under Safbois. This time with decent roofing and floors, complete with student desks. Behind it is a plaque showing it was built by Jadora in February 2022.
Besides the two school buildings, the only other benefit residents said they received from Safbois and Jadora between 2004 and 2024 was the annual USD300 payment made to them after signing the 2019 Isangi REDD+ contract. However, according to the school headteacher, Michel Bolonga, the last time the community received this payment from Jadora was about seven years ago. “They no longer honor what they had agreed to give to the community at the end of each year,” Bolonga said. “This is just the very first school in the very first village”, yet 30 school buildings were promised.
Celestin Bolami, Head of the Biodiversity Department at a Jadora office about three kilometers from the Yafunga school insists that the company created jobs. Yet besides him, there were no other employees in sight. “The company is facing financial difficulties, and employees have been sent home temporarily until the situation improves,” he says in reference to the now withdrawn Isangi REDD+ project. He blames the government, saying that Jadora did submit the necessary documents requested but did not hear back from the Ministry of Environment. Celestin refuted headteacher Michel’s claim that Jadora has not been paying the USD300 it promised the villagers. He claimed that they were up to date with their payment, and that not everyone gets the money because it is given to the chief to distribute to specific families. The chief could not be reached on phone or found at his office by the time this article published.
Litete longs for the day that Jadora would keep the promises they made. “First, we are asking Jadora to employ our children. Secondly, we want Jadora to finish what Safbois started. Like building the school so our children can learn. If they give me money, it wouldn’t do much for me, but if they help the community, especially our children, that would have a lasting impact. Our children will see the work Jadora has done for us. But as we speak, they’ve already left,” he said.
For a company of its repute, it is odd that there are no public records, or even a website showcasing Jadora’s activities. Nor can one trace its ownership on public repositories. It turns out that the Blattners moved the Isangi REDD+ project ownership to a company called Congo Emissions Management (CEM), as revealed on the Land Matrix database. CEM has a website with photos of the team wearing Jadora-branded T-shirts. CEM’s website lists Daniel Blattner and his son Brandon Blattner as President and Chief Executive Officer respectively.
According to Verra’s registry, Isangi REDD+ sold over 1.3 million tonnes of avoided Carbon dioxide. Going by the modal price of five dollars for a tonne of CO₂ from DRC, the Blattners could have made at least seven million dollars. Reports reviewed for this investigation showed that five dollars was the most recurring cost for a tonne of CO₂ from DRC.
Like oil, carbon prices fluctuate over time depending on global demand and supply. Part one of this investigation shows how carbon prices from global south countries are often sold at a bargain. In 2023 for instance, the carbon price in California was USD34 per tonne and USD76 in Europe, while the same tonne sold for USD17 in DRC.
Currently, the Blattners are seeking validation for the Tshopo Lomami REDD+ project, which is twice as big as the Isangi REDD+ project. For this project, they issued a contract to chiefs representing 30 villages in February 2023. At 446,080 hectares, the new Tshopo Lomami REDD+ project is listed as a “grouped project”, which is supposed to be backed by different companies. It is strategically positioned at the border of the Isangi REDD+ project and covers four territories – taking up part of Isangi territory, as well as Opala, Ikela and Yohuma territories.
Three of the four companies financing Tshopo Lomami REDD+ are managed by Daniel’s son Brandon Blattner, according to the project document submitted to Verra- Renewable Solutions LTD (RESO), Green Initiatives LTD (GRIN) and Biodiversity Developments LTD. All three companies are registered at the same address in Florida, U.S. and their owners are listed as David Blattner and Daniel Blattner as per the Florida Department of State registry.
According to his LinkedIn profile, Brandon studied Economics, and then Law in the U.S. His past employers since 2009 have been companies owned by his dad and uncles- Safbois, where he was the director for carbon trading until 2018; timber manufacturing company, American TropiCasual (ATC) Furniture where he was president until 2019 (sister Amanda Noble is Vice President of ATC Furniture), and Congo Emissions Management where he is the CEO to date.
Project documents show that companies financing the Tshopo Lomami REDD+ project were further divided into smaller subsidiaries. Renewable Solutions LTD (RESO) was divided into RESO I and RESO II, and parts of the project area allocated to the mini-subsidiaries. Green Initiatives LTD (GRIN) was also divided into GRIN I and GRIN II.
By listing the grouped project under different companies, the Blattners’ seemingly found a loophole to bypass DRC’s Forestry Code, which stipulates that forests with a total area of more than 500,000 hectares (ha), together or separately, may not be conceded to the same [natural or legal] person, while contracts covering an area in excess of 300,000 ha are approved by presidential order, and those in excess of 400,000 ha by a law passed by the National Assembly.
When asked about the legality of the five companies behind the 446,080 hectares of Tshopo Lomami REDD+ being managed by Brandon Blattner, Professor Malassi Joseph, the Climate Change Advisor at DRC’s Ministry of Environment, said, “We’re not saying that we are not going to give two to three lands just because the name of the same manager comes up everywhere. The government gives concessions to the company, not the individual. Managers come and go”.
Unlike the Isangi REDD+ contract where communities were informed years after carbon credits had been sold, residents have already signed a contract for the Tshopo Lomami REDD+ project, which still awaits approval from Verra. This time, communities were promised 25 schools, ten health centers, 12 bridges and a host of other promises as indicated in Article 9 in the contract below.
Motorcycle for the main chief
15 Primary and Secondary Schools
10 Secondary Schools
12 Bridges
10 Health Centers
10 Group Administrative Offices
10 Rice Mills
52 Kilometers of Agricultural Service Road Maintenance
100 100W Panels and 100 75A Batteries
3000 BG 28 Iron Sheets (100 Sheets per Group)
10 HAOJUE Motorcycles for the Group
30 Motorcycles for the CLD
5 Wi-Fi Antennas
5 Scholarships
30 KINGA 4×4 Bicycles
500 Plastic Chairs
Mongo Chieftaincy Meeting Room
100 Chairs for the Meeting Room
10 MicroscopesItems promised to the communities where the projects would take place
The budget for a REDD+ project in DRC is about five million dollars according to Carbon Market Watch. Many local investors lack the means to shoulder such projects. But not with the Blattner family, who own a vast portfolio of multi-million dollar investments in DRC and overseas.
The Blattner business empire includes one of DRC’s major airlines, Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation (CAA), whose shareholders are Daniel and David. The two also own the World Leasing Company, where they advertise their fleet of aeroplanes available for leasing. Perhaps the most famous Blattner, Elwyn, was featured in a 1989 New York Times article titled; ‘Getting Rich in Zaire: An American Tells How’. Elwyn, who was 33 at the time, was compared to now- U.S. President Donald Trump, then a popular New York businessman. Elwyn was described as “young, wealthy and seemingly buying everything in sight. An increasingly rare species in black Africa.”
According to the New York Times article, the rise of the Blattner family empire in DRC began during Mobutu’s regime. The family at the time owned land bigger than the size of Greece in DRC, at over 15 million hectares. The Black Agenda Report further found that brothers, James, Elwyn, Daniel and David Blattner became more influential after the fall of Mobutu in 1997, and into the presidencies of Laurent and Joseph Kabila. This investigation found at least 40 companies that are connected to the brothers and have managed various projects across different sectors of the economy in DRC and abroad in the last two decades.
In its prime, Elwyn’s bank, Banque Internationale Pour L’afrique Au Congo (BIAC), was the fourth largest bank in DRC, with more than 150 branches across the country, managing over 400,000 accounts with a balance sheet of over USD500 million- Jeuneafrique reported.
The Blattners have owned and run major businesses in DRC for almost fifty years, making it almost impossible to accurately quantify the size of their empire. They are not secretive about their wealth either, judging by Elwyn and wife, Noga’s recent purchase of a luxury home in South Africa’s Simola Golf Estate.
Elwyn’s name also comes up in the Pandora Papers, a trove of documents related to offshore entities, as per the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ)-led investigation. He owns Cawood Investments, a shell company registered in the British Virgin Islands as revealed in the Pandora Papers. Cawood Investments is a majority shareholder for Centre Médical de la Mongala, a private hospital in Kinshasa and Agence Maritime Africaine Sprl, a logistics company in DRC, among seven other companies out of the 40 found in this investigation. Notably, Elwyn is also a shareholder at Société Financière Internationale pour l’Afrique (SOFIA), a holding company with a capital of €36 million, according to their latest annual filing in the Luxembourg registry.
Elwyn’s Groupe Blattner Elwyn (GBE), is a U.S.-registered holding company which owns SIFORCO (Société Industrielle et Forestière du Congo), a logging company that reportedly produces a quarter of all timber harvested in DRC. As of 2012, SIFORCO owned logging concessions spanning over 2.1 million hectares. GBE was also the majority shareholder at BIAC, which was previously accused of mismanaging public funds. DRC’s central bank ordered a “forced liquidation” of BIAC in October 2020.
This investigation did not directly connect Elwyn Blattner to the Isangi and Tshopo Lomami REDD+ projects.
Responding to this report, Jonathan Blattner, who is the Vice President at GBE said; “GBE is not a company at all, but simply a group of companies owned by common shareholders. The bank (BIAC) was never “frozen”. It’s management was taken over by the central bank because of a run on the bank precipitated by an important theft made by one of its managers. The order of liquidation by the Central Bank was illegal and was overturned by the Congolese Supreme Court as it was four years after the shareholders declared a voluntary liquidation on October 11, 2016”.
On SIFORCO, Jonathan added, “SIFORCO was purchased from an international group Danzer located in Switzerland on the February 16, 2012. It was put in voluntary liquidation on November 29, 2016 and from that date has stopped all lumber activities.”
David, Daniel and Brandon come up in connection to three companies in Pennsylvania, U.S. and 12 companies in Florida. Safricas and RESO are also among nine of the Blattners’ companies registered at the same address in a rich neighborhood in Miami, Florida State, at a posh apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean, and is worth about USD2.5 million. David Blattner is registered as the owner of the apartment.
It is important to juxtapose the Blattners’ wealth with the activities that they and their companies are profiting from in DRC. Being among the poorest countries in the world, the World Bank reported DRC as home to the second-highest number of extremely poor people in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Vittoria Moretti, Forest Campaigner at Rainforest Foundation UK has followed a number of REDD+ projects in DRC’s voluntary carbon market. She found that it is commonplace for project proponents to arbitrarily set up poor, incomplete infrastructure for local communities without consequence. “Is there no other way for these investors and proponents to build these schools without preventing or limiting access to land?” she asks.
“I’ll be very skeptical to say that communities are benefitting because the infrastructure is either not in good shape or not finished even with all the money received from the sales. We know that money is being put in so at some point they are obliged to do something. There are villages where communities cannot even cut a piece of wood to build doors for their houses because there’s a police system to control them and they could get arrested. Some cannot even build a coffin to bury their dead because of this strict control over their land. All for a couple of hospitals and schools? Is there no other way that can give the communities more control as well? This is one of the problems we have with how carbon credit is done here [in DRC]. What really remains to the communities is very little to say,” Vittoria said.
Other than regular business taxes, REDD+ projects in DRC are not taxed according to Professor Malassi. “We tax the emitters, not the people who heal the climate. What we have is a benefit-sharing mechanism in place,” he said. In the benefit-sharing plan, the government gets a cut from every carbon credit sold.
However, local communities pay the highest price. Hopes they once had based on promises that Safbois, Jadora and others made have amounted to nothing, community members said. They are also not allowed to work the land that would otherwise sustain them.
“We don’t dispute that the soil belongs to the state, but what about the people who have been keeping the forest? Don’t we have rights?” Litete asks in despair, as he and his community continue to wait in vain for life to get better.
Additional reporting by Malenga Byobe.
Edited by Eric Mugendi, Africa Uncensored Managing Editor.
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