Mining & Business Magazine: Mr. Ambassador, I propose to decrypt the new roadmap of the action of France in the DRC. We will therefore review the common document. Fight against climate change, protection of biodiversity reinforcement of the Francophonie in preamble. Why is it so important?
HE Mr François Pujolas: On the climate and the protection of biodiversity, the French and Congolese Presidents met last March, on the sidelines of the Nairobi Summit, the "One Planet Summit" which dealt precisely with the preservation and management Sustainable Forest Management in Central Africa. 80% of the forest basins are in the Democratic Republic of Congo! The two Presidents were gathered to sign, along with others, the Nairobi Call to give a new impetus to this action. Indeed, the global fight against climate change is affected by the management of this forest which is the second green lung of the planet. So our common concern is sustainable forest management.
Without going into details, France will respond present on this common climate concern. It will include it in its projects in strategic areas such as agriculture and energy, which have been added to our roadmap at the request of President Tshisekedi.
M & B: Let's talk about education. A report shows 700 classrooms and salary funding for 30,000 teachers since 2013. Where are these classes?
SEM FP: These actions were part of the objective of facilitating access for all to a quality education. To access education, there must be schools and unfortunately, there is a lack of classes for students here in the DRC. France has financed a total of 700 classes under the deleveraging - development contract. It was a grant to finance these constructions, a first stone to the building, not enough however. These constructions were concentrated mainly in Kinshasa and in the west of the country, because we could not be everywhere.
We are currently discussing with other donors, especially the World Bank, to see if we can find a formula to sustain this effort and expand it, because the cost of education is a second obstacle. The cost of education is prohibitive in view of the income of many Congolese. We will move forward through our bilateral aid and through coordination with other donors of the "global partnership for education", to which France has significantly increased its contribution last year. But we also want to focus on quality education. This is the challenge of teacher training. Here too, there are needs and France will be present in this area.
M & B: In the joint declaration, there is also a desire to train the elites of tomorrow. At the moment when we think to close the ENA in France, we are going to form enarques here. And after ? What about paying a living wage so as not to rush these young enarques into corruption?
SEM FP: The beginning is still training and I believe that the Congolese ENA has its own legitimacy. France contributed to its creation. She is only five years old and until then she has given good results. Indeed, this does not exhaust the subject of careers of senior officials. We are ready to respond to any request for assistance in this career management.
INAFORJ is a response by the Congolese authorities to modernize the training of judges. I think it's a great thing, we're happy to participate. It's about making justice work more effectively.
As for the Diplomatic Academy, here too we are ready to respond to a request from our partners. There is a desire to modernize the Congolese diplomatic tool at a time when we see that President Tshisekedi is developing a much more sustained action on the international scene.
M & B: Let's talk about the health sector. The needs are enormous. Could you give us concrete examples of what France can bring to the DRC?
SEM FP: There is a lot to do, but it's not all about hardware. We prefer to work on the modernization and efficiency of health systems, because that is often where the shoe pinches. You can have very modern equipment. But if no one is there to do maintenance and organize the hospital, it will not have the expected impact on improving the level of health.
We have interesting projects that have produced first results, notably at the Monkolé hospital in Kinshasa. We are thinking of other similar projects in other regions, particularly in eastern DRC, to modernize access to care and enable Congolese hospitals to respond optimally and at an appropriate cost.
M & B: The joint statement by President Tshisekedi and Minister Le Drian focused on Ebola fever. We are experiencing the 2nd largest epidemic of all time.
HE FP: We are concerned like the Congolese authorities themselves, the context is complicated at the level of acceptance by the population of the interventions to help fight the epidemic. President Tshisekedi made an excellent decision by setting up a multi-sectoral committee. This major public health problem also affects security issues and therefore involves the Ministry of the Interior, the military and other ministries. For our part, we are on the ground through NGOs such as Alima and the French Red Cross, and we have developed an exemplary cooperation in recent years with the National Institute for Biomedical Research in Kinshasa to better fight this Ebola virus disease. . I note in passing that France was the first among the partners of the DRC to offer a modern screening solution, fast and effective. Now, we have diagnoses in 24 or 48 hours.
M & B: The statement mentions the stabilization of the DRC. In concrete terms, will there be more French soldiers for training in the DRC? More Congolese officers in France?
HE FP: In the area of defense and security, cooperation has been at rather low levels in recent years. We decided to restart it. This is reflected in the joint statement that talks about the creation of a joint defense college. That is to say, strengthen the training of Congolese senior officers through sessions organized in the DRC, but also in our schools with regional vocation in Africa and of course in France.
M & B: Let's talk about Francophonie. In concrete terms, for the young Congolese farmer in the Likasi region, what does that mean? He may want to improve his French. Why the OIF, would not allow him to receive free TV5 via satellite Canal +, for example?
SEM FP: I think it's an idea to dig. Our idea is to ensure that the French language is known, spoken, and disseminated throughout the media. It starts with the school, the audiovisual media have of course an important role to play. And so including in learning French or improving knowledge.
We are in the largest francophone country in the world. There are, for example, plenty of leads when we talk about the economic Francophonie that must be explored.
And then, finally, there is a political dimension. We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the OIF (International Organization of La Francophonie) next year. The Secretary General of La Francophonie was here to celebrate La Francophonie last March. She mentioned the creation of a permanent structure of the OIF in Kinshasa.
M & B: A large delegation from France Media Monde was in the DRC last June. Can you tell us two words?
SEM FP: These are very popular media here. I think of France 24 and RFI in particular, they are an integral part of the daily life of many Congolese, so they can legitimately go further and be even more widely disseminated, deepening their partnership with this country.
M & B: Is it possible to do something for the big national parks in Congo?
SEM FP: Of course, we can do more for national parks. I will come back to the forest, because it is still what sets the DRC apart from many other countries in the world. After the DRC, there is Brazil, I do not know of any other country that has such a percentage of its territory covered by rainforest and primary. On national parks, in particular, France has an old expertise that it may not have been sufficiently shared with the DRC. We are in discussion for example with the VIRUNGA national park. For the training of ecoguards, but also work to open up and support non-predatory economic activities of natural resources, to communities living on the periphery of the park. It's something that can be replicated in other parks.
M & B: Since you're talking about Virunga, Total who left this area of research is good news?
SEM FP: This decision is in line with what was announced. Much of Block 3 actually was part of the park.
M & B: Let's talk about forest preservation
SEM FP: Preserving does not mean sanctuarizing a space. It means managing a resource sustainably. This is the meaning of sustainable development: economic activity, protection of the environment and social justice. Unfortunately, much of the deforestation is linked to domestic uses: Makala or burning crops. We must find alternative solutions. With regard to logging, it must be strictly supervised, which has not always been the case in the past.
M & B: I'm coming back to the 300 million figure that was announced. This figure resumes the bilateral?
SEM FP: Yes, 300 million over 5 years. It's 100% of the bilateral and only in subsidies. It's important to note that it can have a leverage effect. And it does not take into account France's contributions through the European Union or various multilateral instruments, such as the Global Partnership for Education or the Global Fund to Fight Pandemic Diseases.
M & B: So we made a point on this roadmap. On the French week, what is the balance sheet? It seems that there is a reluctance of French groups. I am thinking of Veolia in particular. What can be done to make the DRC more attractive?
SEM FP: The roadmap will be the implementation of the joint statement first, we talked about it. But we are also intervening on many other fronts, at the cultural level, with the participation of the DRC in the Season Africa 2020, for example, which will take place in France next year. On the economic front, we want to encourage French investment in the DRC. In that regard, I believe that we must continue the effort that has been made, which is going in the right direction. There is always a lag effect in the image of a country abroad. Here the image linked to the period of political crisis of recent years still impacts much the appreciation that potential investors can have. The signals addressed through President Tshisekedi's positions are positive: improve governance, combat bad practices, and identify strategic sectors. There is also a general openness that can only be seen in a positive way. During a recent presentation of the DRC to MEDEF (the French employers' organization), in Paris, we noticed renewed interest and curiosity for this country. Our goal is to strengthen this movement towards the Democratic Republic of Congo. The French Week in Kinshasa last June has made a significant contribution and the promoters of a strengthened partnership between the DRC and France can only be delighted.
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