The Democratic Republic of the Congo organizes the States General of the mines, pillar of its economy, but which contrast with the poverty of the population and the meager financial mobilizations of the ...

DR Congo launches its general mining survey

The States General of the mines opened this Thursday, July 8 in Kinshasa and will last three days.

Text by: Pascal Mulegwa Follow

4 min

Bosses of mining companies, civil society and authorities together have drawn up an inventory of the mines since Thursday in Kinshasa.

Publicity

With our correspondent in Kinshasa,

The Minister of Mines Antoinette Nsamba opened the three-day work, in a firm tone vis-à-vis her own administration.

“

It is not normal for the private sector to succeed where the administration and public mining companies cyclically fail.
Together, we have a duty to move from programmed failure to a mining development strategy where the country wins, investors win, preserve their reputation and where communities are built beyond mineral reserves

, ”she said. launched.

To do this, the government will have to think outside the box, insisted expert Kalaa Mpinga, special guest at the forum.

“

All state-owned companies are in crisis.
We must find solutions, they must be restructured, rethink their very raison d'être,

he explained.

And we must find that they are the ways and means to either restart them, or restructure them or put them in another set, let's think outside the box.
Let us even think about what is unthinkable and try to find solutions

”.

►Also listen: Who benefits from the mining industry in the DRC?

The work of experts and other participants will be intense for a country that does not properly control its soil and subsoil.

According to Kalaa Mpinga, only 15% of the Congolese geological potential is known.

The sector represents 20% of GDP, less than 10% of formal employment, according to the authorities.

The mining sector in the DRC is "

very conflictual

" said the only expert who spoke at the opening of the meeting.

“

There are conflicts between the big mining operators and the state.
These conflicts are centered around the new mining law, around taxation.
There is also a mining code which was adapted in 2018. And some players refuse or do not want to play the game or do not want to participate

”, according to him.

Fight against mining fraud

The States General should raise the issue of artisanal mining, a source of conflict. A theme on which civil society intends to be very demanding. According to its delegates, it is the environmental impact and the fight against mining fraud, which causes the Congolese state to lose enormous financial resources. In a press release on the sidelines of the opening of this forum, the campaign "The Congo is not for sale" also called on the Prime Minister to commission a complete audit of the implementation of the so-called "minerals against infrastructure" convention. »

Concluded in 2008-2009 between the Chinese Business Group and the Congolese State.

A leonine contract, according to civil society organizations.

The DRC, which needed the liquidity after its first democratic elections since independence, had granted an almost total tax exemption - supposedly to repay the loans granted more quickly. The “Congo is not selling” campaign, which brings together several anti-corruption organizations, notes that only a third of the three billion dollars initially planned have been received by the country. The infrastructure provided in return was overcharged, according to the press release. President Félix Tshisekedi, from the opposition, has since expressed, last May, his intention to renegotiate the said mining contracts, concluded under his predecessor Joseph Kabila; a promised revision, in the name of the Congolese who "are

DR Congo launches its general mining survey

DR Congo launches its general mining survey

Fight against mining fraud

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