DRC: For Albert Yuma, the energy deficit and lack of a quality railway justify the inability to process Congolese minerals at the local level

The national president of the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC), Albert Yuma suggested that the energy deficit and the lack of a quality railroad that the DRC faces is at the base of the low rate of transformation of minerals from the Congo. country at the local level. It was during an exchange, this Friday, June 11, 2021, with a representation of students from the faculties of economics of the University of Kinshasa (UNIKIN) and of the Protestant University in Congo (UPC). 

Responding to a question from a UNIKIN student on what justifies the fact that large foreign mining companies exploit minerals in the DRC to transform them abroad – which does not help reduce unemployment in the country – Albert Yuma answered him bluntly. 

“In the revised mining code, we put this obligation to transform as much as possible. But the problem facing the DRC to transform locally is linked to energy. In Katanga alone today, there is a deficit of 1,200 MW. Only the State can meet this deficit. We have been talking about Inga for years, but there are not enough proactive attitudes to make the Inga project a success. The real problem is that there is an energy deficit, ”said Albert Yuma.

And to continue: 

“There is also a problem of evacuation communication infrastructure. Without a railroad, the Congo is not worth a penny, said Stanley. It is reality. Today, for there to be an industry transformation, we have to redo the railway. It is mandatory. That said, at the level of the FEC, the chamber of mines, I continue to campaign for a minimum of local products to be transformed where we can ” .

In addition, Albert Yuma finds that the mining sector does not contribute as it should to the development of the DRC. It was around the 2000s that the DRC made a gross mistake, that of ceding its subdivision mines to external partners, he said. 

“In the years just before the collapse of the Kamoto mine in the 1990s, Gécamines only produced a maximum of 500,000 tonnes per year, it contributed 70% to the state budget. But above all it was used for irrigation. an industry of small and medium-sized local processing companies. Our State was weak in the 2000s, by ceding most of our subdivision mines to external partners of which GECAMINES or SOKIMO are only minority shareholders “, added Albert Yuma . 

Therefore, the head of the FEC recommended the review of all mining partnerships in order to relieve the DRC.

“As long as we do not do, what I am asking, the review of all partnerships, it is the foreign manufacturers who will continue to decide their industrial policies unfortunately”, proposed Albert Yuma.

It is within the framework of the “Renaissance” project, initiated by the FEC that Albert Yuma learned about the economist students around the theme: “Economic challenges and prospects of the DRC: what are the objectives and expectations of the FEC in National level”.