A report seen by Reuters showed that Congo’s state auditor requested an additional $17 billion in investments from a 2008 resource infrastructure deal with Chinese investors that is now being renegotiated.
China’s embassy in Congo on Friday said it was shocked by the state auditor’s report, describing it as “full of prejudice” and not in line with reality.
President Felix Tshisekedi’s government has extended the agreement reached by his predecessor Joseph Kabila whereby Sinohydro and China Railway Group Ltd. agreed to build roads and hospitals in exchange for a 68 percent stake in Secumens, a cobalt and copper joint venture with Congo’s state-owned mining company Gecamines Corporation.
Under the Sicomines deal, Chinese investors pledged to spend $3 billion on infrastructure projects, but the state’s auditor – the Inspection Generale des Finances (IGF) – has demanded that the commitment be increased to $20 billion to cover and reflect the value of the mining concessions to which Gecamines contributed.
In a response to Twitter, Sicomines said it disputed the report’s content and questioned the auditor’s “competence”.
Also, read; Tyler Perry to Donate $2.5M to Help Older Atlanta Homeowners
“Unjustified criticism and measures against SICOMINE affect the work of the company and the cooperation project and endanger the interests of the country and the Congolese people,” says SICOMINE.
The Chinese embassy said the deal was “a great example of a win-win partnership” and used Tshisekedi’s slogan when discussing Congo’s projects with other countries.
Neither the Embassy nor Sicomines explicitly responded to the criticism and demands of the IGF.
According to an IGF report, Sicomines has only spent $822 million on infrastructure investments to date. The auditor also called for an “immediate” investment of $1 billion from Sicomines and a commitment of 50% of the workforce to Congolese infrastructure projects.
Among a list of 16 demands, the Internet Governance Forum called for “a renegotiation of the agreement to adjust and balance the obligations and benefits of both parties and align them with the value of their respective contributions”.
The auditor also requested that Gecamines take a larger stake in Sicomines. It currently holds a 32% stake.
