L’Etat congolais prêt à céder ses parts dans 7 entreprises mixtes

Siège du Portefeuille à Kinshasa

Cette action rentre dans le processus de son désengagement des entreprises, selon le Copirep, structure technique chargée de la reforme des entreprises publiques. L’Etat se désengagera en particulier dans la Cimenterie de Lukala et dans la Société de développement forestier.

A côté de Cilu et de la Sodefor, il est prévu, selon les sources du Copirep, que l’Etat cède ses parts dans le pétrolier Cobil, dans Congo Chine Telecom, et Tourhotels, une société de tourisme et d’hôtellerie.

Les plantations et huileries du Congo ainsi que les chemins de fer des Uele sont aussi concernés.

L’Etat cédera-t-il la totalité de ces actions ? Peut-être la moitié d’abord dans certaines sociétés, comme il l’a fait avec la cimenterie nationale, affirme une source du ministère du portefeuille.

Pour la plupart de ces entreprises, l’expression canard boiteux leur colle à la peau depuis plusieurs années.

La cession d’actions ne déchargerait pas seulement l’Etat mais lui fournirait quelques millions de dollars. Une structure est déjà créée pour s’occuper de ces fonds.

Beaucoup de syndicalistes contactés estiment qu’un montant important de ces fonds devrait servir à payer les droits des travailleurs : arriérés et décomptes finals des employés dont la plupart attendent la retraite.

Outre les cessions, le gouvernement entend faire une concession. C’est celle de céder, pour quelques années, la Société Sidérurgique située à Maluku à un partenaire privé pour sa relance.

Copyright Radio Okapi

Congo Could Have Most of Debt Forgiven by June

$11-billion debt relief comes in wake of President Kabila moving to reform economy, better control spending

Scott Stearns |

Photo: AP

Second Vice-Chair of the G-24 Rogerio Studart, right, accompanied by G-24 Chairman Jean-Claude Masangu Mulongo, Governor of the Central Bank of the Democratic Republic of Congo, gestures during a news conference at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington (file)

The Democratic Republic of Congo could have the bulk of its external debt forgiven by June in a deal with foreign donors and the International Monetary Fund.

Repaying nearly $11-billion of debt is a heavy burden for an economy still recovering from fighting between 1998 and 2003 that killed more than 3 million people.

Economic growth last year was less than three percent, depressed by a larger-than-expected slowdown in mining and construction. Inflation last month was estimated to be nearly 50 percent in a country with an average per capita income of just more than $170 a year.

But President Joseph Kabila's moves to reform the economy and better control spending have the Democratic Republic of Congo on the verge of an historic deal that could see that nearly $11-billion debt slashed to just more than $2 billion.

International Monetary Fund mission chief Brian Ames says "steadfast actions" are still needed, but the country appears on target to secure debt forgiveness by its 50th independence anniversary on June 30th.

Ames says if the Kabila government continues to take necessary steps, the IMF and World Bank can prepare all the necessary documents for that plan to be in place by the end of June.

Seven years after a peace deal ended most of the fighting, Central Bank Governor Jean-Claude Masangu Mulongo says continuing violence in the eastern Kivu regions means Congo is still not fully benefiting from its mineral wealth.

Masangu Mulongo says Congo needs to find a way to manage its security problems, while at the same time keeping its macroeconomic framework on track.

The International Monetary Fund says President Kabila is improving revenue collection, better managing state spending, and making it easier for businesses to operate. Ames says central-bank reforms should help reduce inflation and increase foreign currency reserves.

If approved, Masangu Mulongo says the debt forgiveness plan would cut Congo's annual debt servicing from $920-million to just more than $200-million.

Masangu Mulongo says that is important because it would allow Congolese to spend the next 50 years without the burden of more than $10-billion of debt.

The United Nations plans to begin withdrawing some of its peacekeepers from western Congo by June, which could put more of a strain on the national army to provide more of its own security. But the bulk of the 20,000-member U.N. force will remain in the east at least until next year.

President Kabila is also finalizing a $9-billion mineral deal with China that is Beijing's largest investment in Africa, giving state-owned firms the right to develop copper and cobalt mines in exchange for building roads, railways, universities, airports, and hospitals.

The IMF decision on debt relief was delayed because of concerns about the conditions of loans in that Chinese mineral deal. The plan was modified to address those concerns, and Congo is again moving forward toward $70-million of a three-year, $550-million package of IMF loans due to be repaid at concessionary rates after 2016.

Angola eyes extension to maritime border with Congo

* Angola eyes extension to maritime border with Congo

* Area rich in oil reserves

* Congo accused Angola in 2009 of stealing its oil

(Adds quote from Congo oil ministry official, paragraphs 5 and 6)

By Henrique Almeida

LUANDA, March 24 (Reuters) - Angola is trying to reach an agreement with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo before it submits a request to the United Nations for its maritime border to be extended to cover an area with huge oil reserves.

The Angolan parliament approved a resolution on Wednesday that allows the government to enter into talks with the Congo, which last year accused Angola of stealing its oil [ID:P491096], about the border extension.

Angolan Justice Minister Guilhermina Prata said the goal was to extend Angola's maritime border to up to 350 nautical miles from 200 miles.

"An agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo on our northern maritime border will create the conditions for Angola to submit a request (to the United Nations)," Prata told members of parliament.

The head of energy projects at Congo's oil ministry, Joseph Pili Pili, told Reuters in Kinshasa that representatives from both countries met informally this week to discuss the issue and would schedule a formal meeting in Luanda in April.

"Angola is our partner. We want to negotiate a new zone of common interest. We have not negotiated on money yet," he said.

Angola rivals Nigeria as Africa's biggest oil producer.

But Congo, struggling to recover from a 1998-2003 war, has almost no offshore oil operations. Its narrow Atlantic coastline lies between the main part of Angola and its northern exclave of Cabinda.

Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, coastal states may explore and exploit the natural resources of their continental shelf for up to 200 nautical miles from shore.

They can apply to extend their border's outer limit to up to 350 nautical miles in certain circumstances.

TENSION

Although strong regional allies, tension between the two nations erupted last year after Kinshasa accused Luanda of stealing its oil and later expelled thousands of Angolan immigrants from its land in a wave of deportations.

Angola Foreign Minister Assuncao dos Anjos said ties between the two nations are good and denied accusations that Angola was illegally pumping Congo's oil.

"Relations between Angola and the Congo are good," dos Anjos told Reuters on the sidelines of a parliamentary session in Luanda.

Asked why Angola planned to request an extension to its maritime boundary, dos Anjos replied: "This extension request comes from a decision by the international community to allow nations to stretch their maritime border."

Brazil said earlier this week it was trying to forge an alliance with African and South American countries to defend seabed mining rights and strategic lanes in the South Atlantic [ID:19436031] by extending maritime borders.

Such a move could render huge profits for nations like Angola, which boasts a similar underwater rock formation to Brazil, which in 2007 made a pre-salt discovery of some 8 billion barrels of crude in its Tupi field. (Reporting by Henrique Almeida; additional reporting by Katrina Manson in Kinshasa; Editing by Richard Valdmanis and Amanda Cooper)

Congo's Kabila heads to South Korea for deals

CONGO-DEMOCRATIC/KOREA

* Presidential delegation to sign health, education deals

* Deepwater port, roads and mining deals on table

* Congo looking to Asia as ties to West falter

By Katrina Manson

KINSHASA, March 26 (Reuters) - Congo's President Joseph Kabila will lead a delegation to South Korea this weekend to discuss deals in infrastructure, health and mining, Korean and Congolese officials said on Friday.

The talks come as the Central African nation, shaken by years of corruption and violence, increasingly seeks to strengthen ties with Asian partners viewed as less critical than the West on human rights and governance issues.

The president, who will spend three days in the country, will be accompanied by seven ministers, including those from infrastructure, minerals, energy, health and education, as well as the head of the country's business federation.

Among the deals at stake is the development of Democratic Republic of Congo's first deepwater port on the tiny coast, according to an official at South Korea's embassy in Kinshasa.

"We are deeply engaged in discussions over the port at Banana," said the embassy official. Congo only has a river port at Matadi, some 150 km from the western strip of coastline.

Estimates suggest building a deepwater port at Banana, which has been slated since the 1980s and would give access to container ships carrying imports and mineral exports, would cost $300-400 million.

"We've built things that people never thought possible before," said the embassy official, rejecting concerns that Banana offers too technically complex a prospect.

Kabila will visit South Korea's largest port city Busan, the official said.

No deal on the port is likely to be finalised during the visit, but bilateral accords will be signed on health and higher education in the central African nation.

"They want to invest in infrastructure and energy, and we can sell their cars here," said an official in Congo's ministry of foreign affairs, whose minister forms part of the delegation. "But we've not yet negotiated over mines."

LOOKING TO ASIA

The Congolese official said the government would not agree minerals-for-infrastructure along the lines of a controversial deal signed last year with China, however.

"It's not going to be like with the Chinese. We have to respect the agreement with the World Bank and IMF in order to reach completion point for debt relief. Even the Koreans know that," said the official.

China last year signed a deal worth an initial $9 billion to build infrastructure in exchange for some of Congo's vast copper reserves in the south of the country.

The deal was reduced to $6 billion and the debt component reduced after the IMF, which is trying to relieve the bulk of Congo's $11 billion debt by the end of June, intervened.

Congo has asked the world's largest peacekeeping force, comprising close to 22,000 U.N. troops, to leave the country in 2011, during which presidential elections are due to be held.

"It's clear that the president is getting fed up with the Western donors and looking to Asia," said a Western diplomat. "China is much less critical of government and on human rights, but South Korea is more attached to macroeconomic stability."

South Korea is keen to build a long-term relationship with Congo, promoting cultural exchange as well as private business deals to be discussed next week, the embassy official said.

"We really feel like we have something to offer to a country like Congo from our own experience, having been a much poorer country than Congo 50 years ago. And now we are chairman of this year's G20," the official added. (Editing by David Lewis)

DR Congo wants $3 bln pipeline to central oil basin

* Congo aims to start work on 1,500 km pipeline in 2015

* Ministry of oil will bring central basin blocks to 80

KINSHASA, March 26 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo has set 2015 as a target date for starting construction of a pipeline to export potential oil finds from its central basin to the coast, a senior official said on Friday.

Congo will look to companies and banks to fund the $3 billion, 1,500-km (900 mile) project taking hoped-for oil from blocks under forests in the heart of the country to the coast.

Several oil companies have expressed interest in the Cuvette Centrale's 21 blocks, but no exploration has started. Blocks 1, 2 and 3 have been allotted to Brazilian company COMICO, pending a presidential decree to start exploring.

"We think we can start buliding the pipeline in 2015," Joseph Pili Pili, director of projects at the ministry of hydrocarbons, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.

"To finance it we will go to the companies, and the banks," he added, giving the $3 billion price tag.

The pipeline, dubbed "The Reptilian" after its lizard-like across the country, would link the Cuvette Centrale to Matadi river port on the western coast.

Pili Pili also said the ministry of hydrocarbons plans to add more blocks to the area, bringing the total to about 80.

Congo hopes a spate of proposed exploration that has oil majors Total (TOTF.PA) and Eni (ENI.MI) interested will bring its stagnant oil sector to life.

Its tiny oil industry, which produces about 25,000 barrels a day from its onshore and offshore blocks in the southwest, is also waiting presidential go-ahead for exploration of blocks -- some of which are disputed -- in the east. (Reporting by Katrina Manson; Editing by David Lewis)

The anatomy of Congo's bloodbath

The roots and evolution of the persistent violence plaguing the Democratic Republic of Congo:

1994
More than 2 million ethnic Hutus arrive from Rwanda, fearing retaliation for the infamous genocide campaign against their Tutsi neighbours. Among them are many of the militants responsible for the slaughter who continue to attack Tutsis on both sides of the border..

1996
The First Congo War breaks out when the Alliance of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL) emerges in the eastern provinces. Backed by Uganda and Rwanda, it is led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila, an admirer of Congo's first elected prime minister, Patrice Lumumba. He declares war on dictator Mobutu Sese Seko, the man who brought about Lumumba's downfall and death three decades earlier, and is now refusing to move against the Hutu militants.

1997
The uprising ends when Mobutu flees the country. Mr. Kabila comes to power but turns against his foreign patrons when they refuse to withdraw their troops.

1998
The Second Congo War begins when Congolese Tutsis (known as the Banyamulenge) and Rwandan forces move against Mr. Kabila, who is now supported by leftist regimes in Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

1999
The rebels sign a ceasefire and foreign powers agree in principle to withdraw their troops with the creation of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC), a multinational peacekeeping force. But the peace pact is widely disregarded, and fighting goes on.

2001
President Kabila is assassinated and succeeded by son Joseph, then in charge of the armed forces MONUC starts to send forces into Congo's eastern hot spots.

2002
Congo finally signs a lasting agreement with Rwanda, which again agrees to pull out its 30,000 troops if the Hutu extremists are disarmed and sent home. Uganda also agrees again to withdraw its forces from northeastern Congo.

2003
A power-sharing pact among the various Congolese factions leads to a transitional government and plans for a return to democratic elections.

2004
Kinshasa appoints new governors in Congo's 11 provinces, re-establishing its national authority. The army clashes in South Kivu with Banyamulenge (Congolese Tutsi) rebels who seize the provincial capital of Bukavu but pull out a week later under international pressure. They are led by Laurent Nkunda, shown at left, a renegade Congolese general who as a young man taught school in Kitchanga, now a refugee centre, before fighting with Rwanda's rebel Tutsis after the genocide and then coming home to join the fight against Mobutu.

2005
After more than a decade in Congo, the Hutu-dominated Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) announces that it plans to end its armed struggle against the Tutsi-led government in Kigali.

2006
A new constitution is adopted, having received 84-per-cent support in a national referendum.

The first free elections in four decades are held, followed by a runoff vote that sees Joseph Kabila returned as president.

The FDLR's great rival, the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP), the leading Tutsi militia backed by Rwanda, clashes with the UN and army in North Kivu, prompting 50,000 residents to flee the province.

2007
Aid agencies report another jump in refugee traffic, again because of unrest caused by the forces of Laurent Nkunda, which control much of North Kivu.

2008
Uganda, Sudan and Congo jointly attack bases set up in northeastern Congo by Uganda's notoriously brutal Lord's Resistance Army. Many civilians die when the rebels strike back.

2009
Congo army launches campaign against Tutsi leader Laurent Nkunda, who is ousted by his deputy Bosco (The Terminator) Ntaganda and arrested after escaping to Rwanda. The CNDP then settles with the government, forms a political party and integrates its fighters with the army. Together they begin to attack the rebel Hutus of the FDLR, prompting yet another round of death and dislocation.

UN extends MONUC's mandate to mid-2010.

Sources: United Nations, World Fact Book, BBC

Congo to Open Oil Blocks on Lakes Tanganyika, Kivu

Source: Reuters 3/24/2010, Location: Africa
Democratic Republic of Congo will open 10 blocks on Lake Tanganyika and six blocks on Lake Kivu for oil exploration as it attracts interest from foreign energy firms, an energy ministry official said.

The central African country, whose oil sector has been virtually paralysed since the 1970s by decades of corruption and conflict, will open the new offshore properties to bidding in April, Joseph Pili Pili, director of projects in Congo's oil ministry, told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference.

"We know Lake Tanganyika has lots of petrol because it is the only one we've got lots of data for -- seismic, magnetic -- the geology has a lot of potential," he said. Foreign firms Chevron, Total, and CNOOC had already expressed interest in the blocks, he said.

"We have to give these (blocks) to a big company because Lake Tanganyika is so deep, at 1,500 metres. It will need a lot of work," he said.

The Lake Kivu blocks, meanwhile, could provide rich reserves of natural gas, he said.

"There are 60 billion cubic metres of gas and each year it produces 350 million cubic metres," he said. "It is like you are sleeping in your bed and God just produces gas for you."

Interest in Congo's oil potential has risen in recent months after big finds on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert. Oil majors Total and Eni have recently expressed interest in blocks on Congo's side of the lake, and several companies including Tullow are jostling for belated presidential decrees to ratify competing licenses.

Despite its potential reserves, Congo barely registers among Africa's oil producers with just 25,000 barrels per day in output, all from French independent Perenco's operations in the southwest of the country.

La RDC ouvre 16 blocs à l'exploration pétrolière

KINSHASA, 24 mars (Reuters) - La République démocratique du Congo va ouvrir 10 blocs à l'exploration pétrolière dans le lac Tanganyika et six blocs dans le lac Kivu, a annoncé mercredi un responsable du ministère de l'Energie.

La RDC, qui a déjà offert des blocs à l'exploration au lac Albert, ouvrira en avril des appels d'offre pour les nouveaux blocs, a déclaré Joseph Pili Pili, directeur deprojets au ministère congolais du Pétrole.

(Katrina Manson Nicole Dupont pour le service français)

Nkunda: la Cour rwandaise incompétente

AFP
26/03/2010

La Cour suprême du Rwanda, saisie d’une requête de remise en liberté de l'ex-chef rebelle tutsi congolais Laurent Nkunda, s'est déclarée incompétente et a renvoyé l'affaire devant la justice militaire, a-t-on appris vendredi de source judiciaire.

"La Cour suprême s'est déclarée incompétente et a renvoyé l'affaire devant un tribunal militaire", a indiqué à l'AFP l'un des avocats de M. Nkunda, Aime Bokanga. La Cour suprême a justifié sa décision par le statut de militaire du chef d'état-major de l'armée rwandaise, le général James Karabe, considéré comme étant à l'origine de la détention de l'ex-chef rebelle congolais, a expliqué Me Bokanga.

Ni le prévenu, ni le général Kabarebe n'étaient présent à l'audience ce vendredi. "Pour nous, c'est une déception", a commenté Me Bokanga, pour qui la justice rwandaise "n'a pas pris en compte la dimension humaine de l'affaire", alors que M. Nkunda "est détenu sans procès depuis plus d'un an".

Laurent Nkunda avait été arrêté en janvier 2009 à Gisenyi, ville rwandaise frontalière avec Goma, dans l'est de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC), alors qu'il était à la tête de la rébellion du Congrès national pour la défense du peuple (CNDP).
Il est depuis lors en résidence surveillée en périphérie de Kigali.

Nkunda avait mis en déroute dans le Nord-Kivu (est de la RDC) l'armée congolaise en octobre 2008 et menacé de faire tomber Goma. A la suite d'un retournement d'alliance, les armées congolaise et rwandaise avaient lancé le 20 janvier une opération conjointe sans précédent contre les rebelles hutus rwandais dans l'est de la RDC, qui avait par ailleurs abouti à l'arrestation de Nkunda.

Au Rwanda, la loi réprimant l'"idéologie du génocide" sert à harceler l'opposition

Le Rwanda, adulé par les Occidentaux pour ses succès économiques et sa stabilité, peut-il progresser vers la démocratie seize ans après le traumatisme du génocide ? L'interpellation de Victoire Ingabire, potentielle candidate d'opposition à Paul Kagamé à la présidentielle d'août à l'aéroport de Kigali, mardi 23 mars, pose cette question largement occultée jusqu'à présent par l'ombre portée du génocide de 1994. L'interdiction de quitter le territoire notifiée à M^me Ingabire est motivée par une enquête judiciaire ouverte notamment pour "négationnisme".

"M^me Ingabire tentait de quitter le pays alors qu'elle est visée par des investigations, a déclaré Louise Mushikiwabo, porte-parole du gouvernement. Cette femme ne pense pas qu'elle doit respecter les lois qui gouvernent ce pays."

Mercredi, l'intéressée est rentrée libre à son domicile après huit heures d'interrogatoire, explique au Monde Joseph Bukeye, dirigeant des Forces démocratiques unifiées (FDU), parti que préside M^me Ingabire. "Elle voulait simplement rendre visite à sa famille aux Pays-Bas, ajoute-t-il. Mais le gouvernement veut prouver par tous les moyens qu'elle est une criminelle pour empêcher l'enregistrement de notre parti et de sa candidate à la présidentielle."

La présidente du FDU n'est pas la seule opposante visée. Frank Habineza, président du parti Vert, a été menacé physiquement et Bernard Ntaganda, dirigeant du Parti social idéal (PS-Imberakuri) a été accusé d'"idéologie du génocide".

M^me Ingabire, elle, est une femme d'affaires de 41 ans, arrivée à Kigali le 16 janvier en provenance des Pays-Bas où elle vivait en exil. Depuis le discours qu'elle a prononcé ce jour-là au mémorial du génocide des Tutsi réclamant que les auteurs des crimes commis contre les Hutu soient également jugés, les autorités l'accusent de "divisionnisme". Elles lui reprochent de contrevenir au principe qui empêche de faire référence à l'appartenance ethnique.

La vie publique rwandaise est en effet soumise à une loi de 2008 punissant de dix à vingt-cinq ans de prison "l'idéologie du génocide", un texte "rédigé en termes vagues et ambigus (...) qui muselle de manière abusive la liberté d'expression", selon Amnesty International. "Les ethnies existent au Rwanda. On ne peut pas les supprimer par une décision politique", argumente M. Bukeye

Depuis son retour, la dirigeante politique a subi une série d'attaques : victime le 3 février d'une agression probablement organisée par le pouvoir, elle a perdu son adjoint, passé à tabac puis incarcéré pour une condamnation prononcée par une gacaca (tribunal populaire jugeant les faits de génocide).

Elle est accusée régulièrement par le quotidien gouvernemental New Times d'"utiliser le même langage que les génocidaires". Il est vrai que certains de ses propos ne manquent pas d'ambiguïté. Interrogée le 2 mars par le quotidien canadien The Globe and Mail, M^me Ingabire a affirmé ne pas savoir si le nombre de victimes tutsi en 1994 était ou non plus élevé que celui des Hutu, alors qu'il est établi que les Tutsi, visés par une campagne d'extermination systématique, ont été immensément plus nombreux à mourir.

Sur la base d'un rapport de l'ONU qu'elle conteste, l'opposante est aussi accusée d'être proche des Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda (FDLR), rébellion créée par d'ex-soldats hutu impliqués dans le génocide et qui perpétue la guerre dans l'est du Congo voisin.

"Le génocide a eu lieu voici seize ans. A présent, l'heure est venue de la démocratie", a-t-elle rétorqué dans un entretien à l'hebdomadaire kenyan The East African, que le président rwandais a qualifié d'"insultant". M. Kagamé estime que les critiques occidentales sous-estiment les risques d'un regain de violence ethnique. "Nous avons vécu les conséquences (des discours ethniques). Nous les connaissons mieux que quiconque dans le monde", a-t-il récemment déclaré.

En 2003, Paul Kagamé, avait recueilli officiellement plus de 95 % des suffrages lors de la première élection présidentielle de l'après génocide, dans un pays où l'"unité" est sans cesse célébrée.

Philippe Bernard

Rwanda opposition politician jailed for genocide

A Rwandan court has sentenced an opposition politician to 17 years in jail for his part in the 1994 genocide.

Joseph Ntawangundi was an aide to Victoire Ingabire

Joseph Ntawangundi initially denied participating in the genocide but later pleaded guilty to the charges.

Ntawangundi was convicted for his involvement in the deaths of eight people who were killed at a school he ran in eastern Rwanda.

Ntawangundi is an aide to opposition leader Victoire Ingabire, who has complained of harassment.

Both Ms Ingabire and Ntawangundi have recently returned to Rwandan after spending years in exile.

In February, United Democratic Forces (UDF) leader Ms Ingabire told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme she had been taken to a police station in Kigali, where she was accused of spreading genocide ideology.

The US-based Human Rights Watch says Rwanda's government is attacking and intimidating its critics in the run-up to August's presidential election.

But President Paul Kagame has said in the past he respects people's rights but will not tolerate anyone undermining peace and stability.

Before his guilty plea Mr Ntawangundi had protested his innocence, claiming he was in Europe during the genocide.