Congo is open for businessChris LeitchFriday, 7 September...

Congo is open for business
Chris Leitch
Friday, 7 September 2007
Source:courtesy Miningnews.net

THE tumultuous period that has dominated the recent history of the Democratic Republic of Congo is over and the central African country is open for business.

That is the view of Moise Katumbi, the newly elected governor of the DRC's south-eastern province of Katanga.

Speaking in Perth yesterday at the 2007 Paydirt Africa Downunder Conference, Katumbi said the country's tragedies are in the past and it is the dawning of a new era.

Focusing on the past will not encourage foreign investment, particularly in mining, and he said people must look forward.

He said things are changing quickly and the occasional problems that will inevitably arise in a new democracy should be seen as "bumps in the road".

"If you have a look at all of the histories of the country before, if people think about that they won't want to invest," he said.

"Today the DRC is a new democracy, elections were held this year to elect a new government, a respectable government with President (Joseph) Kabila, which was accepted.

"Things are changing. It is a new democracy. In the EU, when it started, there were some mistakes but every day they are forming new democracies and people hope for that big change."

Although few countries have ever explored the country, the DRC is believed to hold massive copper-cobalt reserves and Katumbi said mining was the key to rebuilding the country.

"My province is one of the richest provinces in the world and we are looking for people to come and invest because Katanga is still virgin," he said.

Ethnic conflicts and power struggles have dominated the nation since it secured independence from Belgium in 1960.