In 2008, the Chinese signed a contract with the Democratic Republic of Congo. Currently, President Mr. Felix Tshisekedi has called upon the board to review the mining contracts for the second time. He wasn’t in leadership when the two countries signed it.
Tshisedeki called for short and financial and technical details of the Sino-Congolese contracts. This happened during their cabinet meeting late on Friday. He is very eager to know how the two parties arrived at that agreement and why. Some leaders seconded him with the agenda.
He said that Congo’s people have fewer infrastructures. The main root of this problem is the contract signed. It’s through the review that the nation can have enough funds to support its projects.
From 2001 to 2019, the Congolese were under the former president Joseph Kabila. He negotiated for mineral-for-infrastructures with China. All the shares totaled to $9billion. Over time, the deal has decreased to almost 2/3rd of that amount.
The International Monetary Fund(IMF) reported severe changes in finances. In total, the Chinese have disbursed almost $2.74 billion from their first day.
The president visited Kolwezi in May and had intentions to renew some contracts. So Mr.Kabila is anxious to look upon those contracts that have been concluded before shifting to new ones.
He said those who had signed contracts were getting richer as DRC citizen remain poor. The Europeans have always exploited Africa because they have the resources to extract raw products. They then go to manufacture and come up with finished products at higher prices. The country must re-adjust its contracts with external minors to form a win-to-win partnership. This will benefit both countries.
Earlier this year, the Chinese government offered some debt relief dollars to the DRC to fight the pandemic. It was to help the country to gain its economic balance as it got affected negatively by Covid-19. The DRC was not to pay back the loan, although the interest had multiplied.
China has had about 53 total loans to DRC in the past 18 years. This is according to the statistics by John Hopkins University China Africa Research. The main sectors using the loan are mining, transport, and power. The country has a lot of resources which it has been offering to many countries in Africa.
It’s not a DRC case only, but some countries have also complained about the Chinese exploiting their resources at a lower fee. How can we solve the issue? Should all the deals made by China in Africa be revisited? It will be very tricky because the rich country has been the top in offering loans. Africa might lose some essential hands from Asia.
China was hit hard by the pandemic coronavirus originating from its city. Millions of people died. But over time, the country was safe, and the economy opened up. As other countries were suffering, China was safe, gaining its economy. It’s currently the greatest distributor of funds across the world.
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