And…That’s How It’s Done in the Congo: Chinese Mining Venture Settles $17 billion Claim With a $500 Million Check

Stanis Bujakera Thisamala is a prominent Congolese journalist reporting for the Paris-based publication Jeune Afrique and the Reuters news agency among other outlets.

Negotiators for the state-owned China Railway Engineering Corporation (CREC) finalized a deal with the Congolese government to pay for $500 million of new infrastructure this year.

While that may sound like a lot of money, it’s a lot less than the $17 billion that was demanded in a report published last week by the state auditor, who accused CREC and its other Chinese partners in the copper/cobalt mining joint venture known as Sicomines of failing to fulfill their promise to build infrastructure in the DRC.

  • Get a daily email packed with the latest China-Africa news and analysis.
  • Read exclusive insights on the key trends shaping China-Africa relations.
  • Full access to the News Feed that provides daily updates on Chinese engagement in Africa and throughout the Global South.

China, Africa and the Global South... find out what’s happening.

Subscribe today for unlimited access.

OR

Already a subscriber? Log in Click Here to Learn More
by Eric Olander

Most Read

1
Developing Countries’ Debt Servicing Costs to China Are Significant, but Nowhere Near as Much as Other Creditors
2 Chinese Military Fans Discuss Why Indonesia Bought Rafale Instead of J-10C
3
Indonesia Begins $5.9 Billion Chinese EV Battery Project Despite Environment Fears
4
Chinese Cargo Planes Secretly Ferrying Supplies to Iran, Claim Online Sleuths
5
Indonesia Goes Nuclear, Taps China and Russia for Modular Reactors
6
China, U.S. Ink Rare Earth Deal; More Trade Pacts Coming

You Might Like

With Smaller, Targeted Loans, China Deploys New Development Finance Strategy in Africa

The huge state-owned power construction company China Three Gorges Corporation (CTG) signed a small $31.22 million contract last week to upgrade a pair of substations outside of the Ghanaian capital Accra. For a ...

Tshisekedi Appears to Be Looking for an Exit to His Prolonged Standoff With Chinese Mining Companies

On Friday DR Congo President Félix Tshisekedi hinted during a meeting of the Council of Ministers (the DRC’s cabinet) that he wants to bring an end to the ongoing dispute with Chinese mining ...

Fierce Debate Underway in the DR Congo Over Whether China Has Met Its Infrastructure Development Obligations

The Congolese stakeholders in the controversial Chinese mining joint venture Sicomines are calling for further revisions to the controversial multibillion-dollar resource-for-infrastructure deal. At issue are stark differences in what the Congolese side believes ...

Finally, Some Straight Talk on Chinese Loans to Africa

Seemingly fed up with the past week of overheated controversy in Nigeria over Chinese loans, Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi is telling it like it is. People may not like the Chinese, they may not ...

What is The China-Global South Project?

Independent

The China-Global South Project is passionately independent, non-partisan and does not advocate for any country, company or culture.

News

A carefully curated selection of the day’s most important China-Global South stories. Updated 24 hours a day by human editors. No bots, no algorithms.

Analysis

Diverse, often unconventional insights from scholars, analysts, journalists and a variety of stakeholders in the China-Global South discourse.

Networking

A unique professional network of China-Africa scholars, analysts, journalists and other practioners from around the world.

More about CGSP