NGOs demand revision of unfavorable DRC mining contracts
13 March 2007
A coalition of NGOs launched an appeal to the Congolese government, the World Bank and other international partners to "renegotiate, revoke or cancel" disadvantageous mining contracts made during the war and under the transitional government, in order to ensure that the Congolese people derive a "fair share" from the exploitation of the country's natural resources.
In anticipation of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz's arrival in Brussels for an international conference on “Improving Governance and Fighting Corruption: New Frontiers in Public-Private Partnership,” the organizations last week published a memorandum that is highly critical of joint venture agreements that the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC) transitional government entered into with private companies.
The memo cites three of the most significant and controversial contracts approved by the transitional DRC government, which collectively signed away over 70% of the government's most valuable copper and cobalt reserves to international companies. The World Bank has acknowledged that the awarding of the contracts was characterized by "a complete lack of transparency."
"The needs of the Congolese people are immense. Unless there is a fair division of the benefits from mining, the reconstruction and development of the country will be compromised” said Pere Minani of the Centre d’Etudes pour l’Action Sociale (CEPAS) in Kinshasa.
The NGO coalition argues that the transparency of existing and future mining contracts is essential to combat corruption and to protect the interests of the Congolese people. Citing precedents in other countries, the groups insist that the terms of deals in the extractive sector must be made public, and that existing agreements should be reviewed and disadvantgeous or illegal contracts renegotiated or cancelled.
additional Resources
Public-Private Partnerships in the DRC's mining sector: Development, good governance, and the struggle against corruption? March 13, 2007 (Acrobat PDF 685 KB). Also available: Français (Acrobat PDF 655 KB)