Faced with “obscured” Chinese mining contracts, an American official offers another “model” to the DRC
Faced with China and “opaque” mining contracts that do not or very little benefit the population, a senior American official said on Saturday in Kinshasa that the United States was offering the Democratic Republic of Congo another “model of development “.
“For too long the great wealth of the DRC has not translated into a better quality of life for the Congolese,” Daleep Singh, US deputy national security adviser, told reporters on a visit to the DRC capital where he met President Félix Tshisekedi on Friday.
According to him, “generations of investors have exploited the minerals of the DRC without anything in return in terms of decent jobs, schools, hospitals, roads…”.
Felix Tshisekedi, in power for three years in the DRC, wanted “closer ties” with the United States, said Daleep Singh, who said he saw “an opportunity for change in the DRC”.
“We are here to offer a different development model, which begins with democratic values, transparency, sustainability…”, he assured, emphasizing the role in this “model” of the American private sector. .
“The DRC is particularly rich in minerals necessary for the clean energy revolution” (cobalt, lithium, etc.), “we want to invest in this transformation”, continued the official.
“It is a fact that China controls most of the mining operations in the DRC,” the deputy adviser said, in response to being asked if he was targeting Beijing in his opening remarks.
“It is also a fact that many contracts signed in the mining industry are opaque and coercive,” he said.
“We would like to give the DRC a choice”, he insisted, a choice which “respects Congolese law”, “which pays royalties”, “which recruits and trains Congolese employees”, “which shares the profits with local communities”, “which gives more people a dignified life”, he listed.
“We are not asking the Congolese government to choose between the United States and China, but we believe, if I may say so, that we have a better product”, he said, calling for “market access on a competitive basis”.
“We made this request on this trip (to Kinshasa) and I am encouraged by the response,” he added.
