"Congo president demands more from $6.2bn China metals deal"

" Congo president demands more from $6.2bn China metals deal \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\nDemocratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi criticized a\u00a0 $6.2 billion minerals-for-infrastructure contract \u00a0with China, saying the world\u2019s largest producer of a key battery metal hasn\u2019t benefited from the deal.\r\n\r\nCongo, Africa\u2019s second-largest nation by landmass, is flush with natural resources \u2014 including copper and cobalt that are major components in electric vehicles \u2014 but remains one of the world\u2019s least-developed countries. Most of its minerals end up in China, which signed a landmark deal with Tshisekedi\u2019s predecessor in 2008 to trade roads and buildings for the two metals.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n\r\n\u201cThe Chinese, they\u2019ve made a lot of money and made a lot of profit from this contract,\u201d Tshisekedi said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. \u201cNow our need is simply to re-balance things in a way that it becomes win-win.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe contract renegotiation is part of a campaign by the president to ensure the country gets paid for the full value of its resources, which are increasingly in high demand.\r\n\r\nThe accord with China was signed at a time when Congo was emerging from decades of dictatorship and war and newly elected President Joseph Kabila was desperate for financing. It mandated that Chinese companies invest $3.2 billion in a copper-cobalt mine and another $3 billion in infrastructure funded by the mine\u2019s revenue.\r\n \u2018Nothing tangible\u2019 \r\nCongo\u2019s government says China has released less than a third of the infrastructure funds.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re happy to be friends with the Chinese, but the contract was badly drawn up, very badly,\u201d Tshisekedi said. \u201cToday, the Democratic Republic of Congo has derived no benefit from it. There\u2019s nothing tangible, no positive impact, I\u2019d say, for our population.\u201d\r\n\r\nThe Chinese Embassy in Congo and the Chinese ambassador didn\u2019t immediately respond to an email and a text message requesting comment on the negotiations, which have gone on for more than a year.\r\n\r\n\u201cYou know, the Chinese are the champions of marathon discussions,\u201d Tshisekedi said. \u201cThey\u2019re known worldwide for it. We\u2019re undergoing this experience now and so, we\u2019ll see, but we remain optimistic.\u201d\r\n\r\nNegotiations are also dragging on over the Grand Inga site with Australia\u2019s Fortescue Metals Group Ltd., which has a memorandum of understanding with Congo to develop what could be the world\u2019s largest hydropower project, Tshisekedi said.\r\n African investors \r\nThe president wants Fortescue to allow other investors into the deal, especially from Africa, and possibly scale down its ambitions in order to speed up development, he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe\u2019re not on the same wavelength,\u201d he said, adding that he\u2019d met at Davos with Andrew Forrest, Fortescue\u2019s billionaire chairman.\r\n\r\n\u201cWe want to make it a kind of opportunity to also unite other interests, particularly African interests,\u201d Tshisekedi said. \u201cWe\u2019re open to everything, to all discussions, to all meetings.\u201d\r\n\r\nTalks with Fortescue are continuing, Tshisekedi\u2019s director of communications later confirmed. Fortescue Future Industries Ltd. plans to use Inga\u2019s energy, which could eventually be twice as powerful as China\u2019s Three Gorges project, to produce green hydrogen and green ammonia.\r\n\r\nThe company is in \u201cactive discussions\u201d about the project, FFI Chief Executive Officer Mark Hutchinson said in an emailed response to a request for comment. Tshisekedi plans to visit Australia to continue those talks, he said.\r\n\r\n\u201cFortescue has a team in the DRC and are continuing to work closely with the government to take this forward,\u201d Hutchinson said. \u201cFortescue welcomes other partners to this important project.\u201d\r\n\r\nThere\u2019s no timetable for the next phase of Inga, the 10-gigawatt project known as Inga 3, Tshisekedi said.\r\n Regional conflict \r\nThe president, who\u2019s also dealing with a multitude of violent conflicts at home and a reelection campaign at year\u2019s end, has grown more outspoken against outsiders taking advantage of Congo\u2019s resources for their own gain.\r\n\r\nThis has been particularly true in the country\u2019s east, where an offensive by the M23 rebel group \u2014 allegedly backed by neighboring Rwanda \u2014 has displaced more than 450,000 people. Rwanda denies that it\u2019s supporting the militants, who say they\u2019re fighting for the rights of Congolese of Rwandan heritage.\r\n\r\nEastern Congo has been wracked by conflict since the 1990s, when violence from the aftermath of Rwanda\u2019s civil war and genocide spread across the border. More than 100 armed groups remain active in the region, some of whom profit from the illegal trade in natural resources, which often transit through neighboring countries.\r\n\r\n\u201cRwanda has been at the base of instability in Democratic Republic of Congo for twenty years,\u201d Tshisekedi said. \u201cIt\u2019s thanks to this instability that it can create mafia networks of illicit exploitation of gold, coltan and other minerals.\u201d\r\n Cobalt monopoly \r\nRwanda\u2019s government rejected Tshisekedi\u2019s accusation.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe root cause of instability in eastern Congo is the security and governance failures of the Congolese government and the longtime involvement in the mining sector of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, the genocidal militia that fled Rwanda in 1994, as well as dozens of Congolese illegal armed groups that are supported by the Congolese military and government, and which exploit Congo\u2019s natural resources with impunity,\u201d spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said by text message.\r\n\r\nA plan to impose a monopoly on the sale of all hand-dug cobalt is also part of Tshisekedi\u2019s goal to ensure Congo is paid for its minerals, he said.\r\n\r\nCongo\u2019s state-owned Entreprise Generale du Cobalt, or EGC, still needs a full management team and a regulator, according to the president. Talks are ongoing with potential partners, including Trafigura Group, the Singapore-based commodities trader, he said.\r\n\r\nCongo is responsible for about 70% of world cobalt production, as much as 30% of which comes from so-called artisanal miners.\r\n\r\nThose miners often work in dangerous and unregulated conditions, and EGC \u201crepresents one of the brightest hopes for instigating the improvements needed,\u201d Trafigura said in an emailed response to questions Thursday.\r\n\r\n\u201cTrafigura remains committed to its commercial agreement with EGC and delivering on the pressing need to kick-start the large-scale formalization\u201d of the artisanal and small-scale mining cobalt industry, it said.\r\n\r\n \r\n \r\n \r\n "

"Congo president demands more from $6.2bn China metals deal"

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