20 July 2007
The European Investment Bank this week approved €100 million ($130 million) for the controversial Tenke Fungurume mining project, despite calls from civil society for public lenders to await the outcome of an ongoing examination of 60 mining contracts.
Critics argue that the EIB's decision to finance the project prejudges the outcomes of the ongoing government review process, although it made disbursement of its loan conditional on final approval of financing by other lenders, as well as the DRC government’s non-objection to the loan.
The Tenke deal is among the 60 contracts signed over the last decade, during the Congolese civil war and under the transitional government, that are currently under examination by an interministerial commission in Kinshasa. The Tenke concession covers what is reportedly the world's largest untapped copper-cobalt deposit.
The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) was slated to approve a guarantee and investment for the project on July 12, but postponed its decision in response to civil society concerns over the project’s impacts on the contract review process and questions about OPIC’s compliance with certain statutes limiting its mining investments.
There are indications that other public financiers, such as Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), may also be planning to support the project.
Meanwhile, the EIB also approved a €200 million ($260 million) investment in the $3 billion Ambatovy Nickel Mine in Madagascar. The African Development Bank agreed to invest $150 million in the project in May.
Resources
- Civil society organizations call for public lenders to respect DR Congo mining contract review, Bank Information Center, July 11, 2007 (BIC website)
- CSO statement on Tenke and DRC contract review, July 11, 2007 (Acrobat PDF 23 KB)
- Declaration OSC sur Tenke et revision contrats RDC (French), July 11, 2007 (Acrobat PDF 20 KB)
- Congo to review mining contracts by Dino Mahtani, Financial Times, June 11, 2007 (FT website)