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PRESS RELEASE...
JUSTICIA Asbl
of and defense of the rights of / and humanitarian international. : avenue .4doula corner of the factories. Katanga commune:
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PRESS RELEASE N0006/JUST/2024
EMERGENCY TO CLEAN UP THE BUSINESS CLIMATE AND
DEPOLITIZE SUBCONTRACTING IN THE DRC’S MINING SECTOR
JUSTICIA Asbl, an organization for the promotion and protection of human and humanitarian rights based in the Democratic Republic of Congo, calls on the Congolese government to improve the business climate in the mining sector by warning of the risk of a social and economic crisis which could have incalculable consequences on the economic recovery of the country and further delay its development following the deterioration of the business climate which has become less conducive to encouraging serious and responsible investors in the mining sector, in particular, as well as the diversification of other sectors of activity.
for JUSTICIA Asbl, the Congolese Government seems not to be able to meet the challenge of diversifying economic activities due to the absence of effective and coherent strategies to encourage investors to rush to the door of the DRC for its industrialization.
Despite the fact that the price of copper on the world market has increased significantly and that the red metal has become too coveted than production capacity, the DRC is still struggling to attract large mining investors or mobilize sufficient income to revive its economy.
It should always be emphasized that the new legislative framework (revised mining code and regulations) contains several advances and innovations which, if better applied, would contribute to improving the governance of the mining sector and bring significant economic and social benefits for citizens. In addition, it is appropriate to paraphrase Albert YUMA, former president of the FEC, who pertinently questioned himself during the reflections organized in the year of the entry into force of the new mining code and regulations: “the The State benefited from exceptional tax revenues generated by extremely high prices. Has this lastingly changed the daily lives of the Congolese?
Indeed, we have learned from surveys carried out among mining operators in Greater Katanga that a crisis due to the decline in mining activity is hitting the DRC's copper-cobalt sector hard while the lithium sector has been weighed down since 2021 by the intrusion of the Chinese company ZIJIN, supported by COMINIERE and officials identified by IGF, in a disputed manner and denounced by the Report of the Finance Inspectorate, a service dependent on the Presidency of the Republic, in the company Dathcom Mining in Manono which was on track with the Australians of AVZ Minerals to place the country among the major producers of this strategic and critical mineral.
Furthermore, it is to be welcomed that the General Company of Cobalt (EGC) was finally able to obtain the designation of two pilot sites for its supply of artisanal ores.
I According to the report of the Congolese Government Council of Friday 04/21/2023. the Minister of Finance. Nicolas KAZADI had indicated to the members of the Council. that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have encouraged the Congolese government to continue investments in the infrastructure sector and reforms aimed at improving/environmenting business to further favor the private sector and reduce the dependence of the economy on the mining sector .