President Joseph Kabila used a state of the nation address Thursday to hail cooperation with China in industries such as mining as key to the reconstruction of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"For the first time in our history, the Congolese people can at last see that their cobalt, nickel and copper is being used to good effect," Kabila said in his first such address since taking office last year.
Kabila, 36, said similar accords with other partners would see the successful completion of his five-year plan to overhaul the country's creaking infrastructure, including roads, airports, schools, hospitals and ports.
China signed a deal in September to loan the mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo five billion dollars (3.6 billion euros) to build up its infrastructure and develop its mining industry.
Three billion dollars went towards the building of thousands of miles of railways and roads as well as hospitals, universities and housing, while the rest went into mining and creating joint Chinese-Congolese firms.
Also in September, Chinese Exim Bank agreed to provide some 8.5 billion dollars in financing to build up infrastructure and develop the DR Congo's mining industry.
The following month Kinshasa signed loan accords -- whose value was not given -- with the China Development Bank.
China is keen to get its hands on raw materials from around the world to feed its fast-growing economy, and in recent years has been on a diplomatic offensive to secure what it needs. A major focus has been on Africa.
Top Chinese officials including President Hu Jintao have toured the continent, and in November last year Beijing invited scores of African leaders to a summit where it pledged to double aid and offer billions of dollars in loans.
With its huge but largely untapped natural resources, Congo is a key prize.
It has 34 percent of the world's known cobalt reserves, 10 percent of its copper, vast forests full of timber and a treasure trove of gold and diamonds.
But after years of inter-ethnic wars drawing in its neighbours and leaving millions dead, Congolese infrastructure is practically nonexistent. Its 65 million people are desperately poor even by African standards.
China's interest in Africa has attracted criticism, however, for ignoring African countries' sometimes dubious human rights records -- in oil-rich Sudan, for example -- and for low environmental standards.
Congo seeks more new partners after huge China loan By Joe Bavier
6 December 2007
Source:Reuters News
GOMA, Congo, Dec 6 (Reuters) - Traditional donors are not giving enough to rebuild wartorn Democratic Republic of Congo and the country is ready for new partnerships after securing $5 billion from China, President Joseph Kabila said on Thursday.
Two days ahead of a summit between African and European leaders in Portugal, Kabila lauded the loan and infrastructure development package signed in September with China, which is to be repaid in part with valuable mineral concessions.
"For the first time in our history, the Congolese people will finally see what their cobalt, nickel, and copper are good for," he said, addressing the nation on the first anniversary of his swearing in after historic polls last year.
"That is the spirit of the agreements with the Chinese. They were concluded in complete transparency, and we are ready to conclude similar agreements with other partners," he said.
The EU remains Africa's largest trading partner, with total trade of more than 200 billion euros ($296 billion) in 2006, but China jumped into third place last year with 43 billion.
EU leaders hope to reinforce ties with the poorest continent by improving cooperation in areas like trade, immigration and peacekeeping, and moving away from dependence-inducing aid.
International donors meeting in Paris last week promised $4 billion for Congo for 2008-10, most of it new funding.
However, Kabila said the level of assistance provided by Congo's traditional European and North American partners falls short of the country's needs.
"Taking into account the financial deficit to fill and given the disbursement procedures, it does not respond to our pressing debts," he said.
Congo's debt stood at around $11.5 billion at the end of last year, and much of the country's meagre 2007 budget of around $2.5 billion has gone towards paying it off.
The China deal, announced by Congolese and Chinese officials in September, earmarks $3 billion for strategic highway and railroad projects linking Congo's mineral-rich interior to its southern neighbours and Atlantic shipping routes.
The remaining $2 billion targets the revival of the former Belgian colony's once-mighty mining sector -- a treasure trove of copper, cobalt, gold, nickel, uranium and diamonds still to be fully tapped -- whose production has been decimated by war, foreign invasions and years of graft, pilfering and neglect.
The accord comes with a promise of a possible $3.5 billion more. If fully disbursed, it will be one of the biggest financial commitments of China's enthusiastic foray into Africa. (Editing by Alistair Thomson)
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