- The opacity surrounding China’s involvement in the Congolese extractive sector is expected to be cleared up by the report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to be published this month.
- The mining contract between China and the Democratic Republic of Congo is over a decade old.
- Even after the renegotiation of the mining contract with the Chinese, the contract was not transparent.
The opacity surrounding China’s involvement in the Congolese extractive sector is expected to be cleared up by the report from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) to be published this month. The mining contract between China and the Democratic Republic of Congo is over a decade old. Even after the renegotiation of the mining contract with the Chinese, the contract was not transparent. Its preliminary version has been praised by local experts for exposing several aspects of the contract.
When the DRC signed the contract with Sicomines SA, the Chinese firm, in 2008, the deal was worth about $9 billion. However, after intervention from the International Monetary Fund, Kinshasa renegotiated the agreement. It nevertheless appeared unbalanced.
The preliminary report revealed that although the DRC provides most of the mining assets for the joint venture, it only holds 32 percent of the shares. Furthermore, the Chinese feasibility study allegedly undervalued the reserves of these deposits. It was alleged that the contract was renegotiated in 2017, without even involving the minister in charge of mines before former President Joseph Kabila left office.
It was further found that despite a $3 billion commitment to build local infrastructure such as roads, schools, and health centers by the investors, most of it has not materialized, and less than a billion dollars have been disbursed.
In July, Congolese Minister of Mines Antoinette Nsamba said that to date, Sicomines has paid no taxes or royalties and yet exports minerals and imports equipment and operating products duty-free.
Chinese officials refuted these allegations in a published statement, claiming there was a consensus between the Chinese and Congolese parties and that only a small portion of the profits was to be distributed, with the majority being used to repay loans. President Félix Tshisekedi has ordered a proper assessment by the Minister of State for Infrastructure and the Minister of Mines.