Vol 51 No 10 | CAMEROON Another corruption crisis 14th May 2010 A journalist investigating a top politician dies in gaol and the ensuing scandal damages President Biya’s claims to be Monsieur Propre – Mr Clean The death of journalist Germain Cyrille ‘Bibi’ Ngota Ngota in the notorious Kondengui maximum security prison has caused outrage in Cameroon and abroad and could prompt political change...
Vol 51 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASAANALYSIS Elections loom as Kabila comes under fire from all sides 14th May 2010 Next month, Congolese will mark 50 troubled years of Independence from Belgium amid growing concern about security and development prospects under President Kabila’s government. Kabila and the ruling PPRD are feverishly preparing for elections next year and are ramping up the nationalist rhetoric. They want the UN peacekeepers out as soon as possible to reassert the country’s independence. They also want to pressure the foreign mining and oil companies to boost state revenue. President Joseph Kabila and the ruling Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et le Développement (PPRD) have called for the United Nations’ peacekeepers to quit Congo-Kinshasa as soon...
Vol 51 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASA The UN packs its bags 14th May 2010 The Mission des Nations Unies en République Démocratique du Congo (Monuc) believes it has made progress in its stabilisation strategy for eastern Congo. Since the beginning of 2009,...
Vol 51 No 9 | CONGO-KINSHASA River raid 30th April 2010 A raid on Mbandaka, capital of Equateur Province, underlines the nation’s insecurity. Between 40 and 60 men of the Enyele people arrived on the riverboat Malaika (‘Angel’) armed...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 6 | CONGO-KINSHASACHINASOUTH KOREA More multibillion mining contracts for Kinshasa 22nd April 2010 President Kabila’s trip to Seoul yields another multibillion-dollar mining deal just as a midway review of China’s US$6 bn. contract is completed Five years after his first official visit, President Joseph Kabila returned to South Korea on 29-30 March. Two protocols were agreed. The first accord seeks to replicate China’s US$6...
Vol 51 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASAANALYSIS Le scandale pétrolier 16th April 2010 The country now produces a paltry 25,000 barrels a day but the big international oil companies are lining up to buy their way into Congo-Kinshasa. Smaller companies have been locked in wrangles with each other and successive Kinshasa officials for several years. New blocks are likely to be offered in a licensing round that will open up new parts of Congo to exploration; competition for disputed blocks is heating up. But will the oil boom boost economic development or just repeat the confusion and corruption of the mining sector? President Joseph Kabila is blocking exploration contracts that were granted several years ago and the lack of his approval has left several companies hanging on in Kinshasa, hoping...
Vol 51 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA Contention and contenders 16th April 2010 In the Albertine Graben (Lake Albert, Lake Edward and land in between and around), the rivalry is international.
Vol 51 No 8 | CONGO-KINSHASA Contractual confusion 16th April 2010 The disputes about Congo-Kinshasa’s oil concessions, licences, claims and terms have grown so tangled that, we hear, President Joseph Kabila may ask Uganda for help with a review....
Vol 51 No 6 | UGANDACONGO-KINSHASA The next oil scramble 19th March 2010 A new battle for oil blocks has started in the troubled north-east after France’s Total announced that it was seeking acreage in the Lake Albert basin, in alliance...
Vol 3 (AAC) No 5 | CONGO-KINSHASAASIA How militias control the mines 15th March 2010 Politicians, businessmen, the army and rebels are all caught up in the illegal mining and smuggling of minerals destined for lucrative Asian markets Prominent Congolese businessmen with connections to rebel groups in the conflict-ridden North and South Kivu Provinces are largely responsible for the illegal export of quantities of tin and...