After months of negative media coverage, Chinese mining companies in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are pushing back against the perception they aren’t fulfilling their contractual obligations to provide social services and build infrastructure for the local communities where they operate.
There’s been a recent flurry of news coverage, social media posts, and even ministerial visits to mining sites to bolster their position.
DRC mining and policy analyst Christian-Geraud Neema Byamungu has been closely following the Chinese response to the government’s moves to review foreign mining contracts and how this increasingly contentious issue is unfolding.
Show Notes:
- South China Morning Post: Congo reviews Chinese mine contracts after President Felix Tshisekedi pushes back against deals favouring foreign firms by Jevans Nyabiage
- The Africa Report: DRC – China: Tshisekedi to revisit working relationship with Beijing by Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala
- Bloomberg: Congo Initiates Probe Into China Moly’s TFM Copper-Cobalt Mine by Michael Kavanagh
About Christian-Geraud Byamungu:
Christian Géraud Neema Byamungu is an analyst and observer of China-Africa relations who graduated from Renmin University of China and International University of Japan. Previously he worked as a project manager for a small Congolese mining company Intermines specializing in cassiterite and gold production and later as a consultant on good governance and policy advocacy for the “Centre d’Etudes pour l’Action Social”. Currently, he is a junior researcher on governance and natural resource management with a focus on the governance of natural resource funds in non-democratic resource-rich countries.
Transcript:(please note this transcript is produced by artificial intelligence so it’s not 100% accurate)
