DR Congo, China seal new mine-road financing deal worth $7 Billion

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and GEC, a consortium of Chinese companies, have sealed a new mine-road financing deal worth $7 Billion. The funds are mainly intended for the construction of national roads in the central African country.

State-owned mining company Sicomines announced the decision over the weekend following talks on an updated version of an agreement signed in April 2008.

Another State-owned mining company, namely Gecamines, will get a 1.2% royalty on the earnings from Sicomines, while the authority will sell 32% of its production.

Besides, both parties will jointly manage the Busanga Power Plant, “with 60% of the shares for the Chinese Party and 40% for the DRC.”

Sicomines also announced that the optimizations promote the achievement of win-win cooperation objectives and constitute a significant step to promote cooperation between China and the DRC.

President Felix Tshisekedi of DRC reportedly chided the 2008 deal arguing that the initial agreement provided little benefit to his country and that less than a third of a $3 billion intended for infrastructure projects was actually paid out.