The various Memoranda of Understanding and Mining Contracts required by the International Monetary Fund have been published. They concern both companies, Sokimo and Miba. These contracts were signed under the chairmanship of Felix Tshisekedi, their publication was a precondition for the opening of negotiations with a view to signing a three-year plan with the IMF. What do these contracts say?
We are talking about four contracts or memoranda of understanding. There are three on the Sokimo side, Société minière de Kilo-Moto, which exploits gold in Ituri, and one with Miba, the company that exploits diamonds in Kasai. A working group on the transparency initiative from Extractive Industries looked at the first three in mid-September and noted common shortcomings.
No respect for procurement procedures or procurement law. The selected partners do not fulfill their obligations, especially not financial to Congolese state-owned companies. There is no doubt that they have neither the economic capacity nor the technical capacity. Which is also a violation of the mining code.
The signatories of these contracts, AJ Resources, Pianeta Mining or A§M International Development and Investment, could acquire shares in joint ventures or on very promising operating licenses. Another weakness noted: there are no feasibility studies to certify the resources. This does not allow to know exactly what the Congolese state could claim.
It should be noted that other contracts have been published on the EITI (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) website, in particular a € 200 million loan contract between Gecamines, the State Mining Company and Fleurette, the company of Joseph Kabila’s friend Dan Gertler, signed a two-month contract before the Israeli businessman was put under sanctions by the United States.
.
