Vol 49 No 20 | CONGO-KINSHASA Forest contracts review 3rd October 2008 The government is reviewing forestry concessions and Greenpeace produces a report that shows Congo-Kinshsasa's government is to reform the controversial forestry sector. On 30 July, an interministerial commission, Le Commission Interministérielle de Conversion des A...
Vol 49 No 19 | CONGO-KINSHASA Tin soldiers 19th September 2008 The commanders of Congo’s army, the Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo, are mining cassiterite (tin ore) and gold in league with the majority...
Vol 49 No 14 | UGANDACONGO-KINSHASA The competition heats up 4th July 2008 As oil exploration continues apace on Lake Albert, Uganda and Congo threaten to make business difficult for foreign companies Companies drilling on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert, which straddles the border with Congo-Kinshasa, had a rude shock in mid-June when President Yoweri Museveni announced that Ug...
Vol 49 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASA Bemba under arrest 6th June 2008 It is convenient for President Kabila that his main opponent stands accused of war crimes At least a couple of months must pass before Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo can be transferred from Belgium, where he was arrested on 24 May, to prison in the Netherlands. The arrest warr...
Vol 49 No 12 | CONGO-KINSHASABELGIUM Diamond horror 6th June 2008 On 24 May, Kinshasa recalled ‘for consultations’ its Ambassador in Brussels, Jean-Pierre Mutamba, and (to the horror of the diamond trade) closed its Antwerp consulate. Later, it c...
Vol 49 No 11 | CONGO-KINSHASABELGIUM In the rain-forrest 23rd May 2008 Under scrutiny since 2002, the Forrest Group is in trouble with the United Nations again Belgium has lost a diplomat and the George Forrest Group, which dominates parts of Congo-Kinshasa's mining industry, has lost a valuable senior executive. Pierre Chevalier, Belgium...
Vol 49 No 10 | UGANDACONGO-KINSHASA Hidden depths 9th May 2008 Tensions between Kinshasa and Kampala are heating up again and oil fortunes are at stake Talks to resolve the intermittent border disputes between Kampala and Kinshasa have been called off after Congolese troops seized a tract of disputed territory between Arua distric...
Vol 49 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASABELGIUM Drifting apart 9th May 2008 The habitual politeness between Belgium and its former colony grew thinner still during a five-day visit to Kinshasa in late April by three ministers from Brussels, Karel De Gucht ...
Vol 49 No 10 | CONGO-KINSHASA Under cover 9th May 2008 The halting of United Nations' investigations into allegations of abuses by Indian and Pakistani peacekeepers in Congo-Kinshasa raises new questions about UN accountability and th...
Vol 49 No 8 | UGANDACONGO-KINSHASAOIL AND GAS Lake Albert and the gushers 11th April 2008 Congo-Kinshasa and Uganda still disagree about their shared border, but the scraps in which soldiers and civilians were killed on Lake Albert late last year have faded away, and co...