DRC - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By DAPHNE PSALEDAKIS and ERNEST SCHEYDER

US talks often with Congo’s Gecamines on cobalt and copper

THE United States speaks regularly with the Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner Gecamines, a senior State Department official told Reuters, as Washington seeks to deepen relationships with key suppliers of cobalt and copper across the African continent. WHY IT'S IMPORTANT Chinese aggressive investment across Congo, Zambia and elsewhere in Africa - which holds massive supplies of minerals used to make electric vehicles and other electronics - has for some time raised concern in Washington. Jose Fernandez, the U.S. State Department's under-secretary for economic growth, energy, and the environment, said in an interview this week that conversations with Gecamines centre…

Mar

2024

By MARCO AQUINO and FELIX NJINI

DRC overtakes Peru on copper output, still behind on exports

BUSINESS

THE Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) overtook Peru as the world's second-largest copper producer in 2023, though it still lags behind the South American country in exports, official data from both nations show. DRC produced about 2.84 million tons of copper last year, the country's central bank reported. Peru's output was 2.76 million tons, the Andean country's mining and energy ministry said. DRC has been reeling in Peru's No. 2 copper spot over recent years, with flagging mining investment in Peru linked to red tape and recent political turmoil and protests. Chile remains the distant top producer of the red metal.…

Mar

2024

By The African Mirror

DRC lifts moratorium on death penalty

NEWS

DEMOCRATIC Republic Congo has lifted a moratorium on the death penalty, citing treachery and espionage in recurring armed conflicts as the reason for allowing a resumption of executions, said a justice ministry circular seen by Reuters on Friday. The Central African country introduced the moratorium on the death penalty in early 2000. However, it has never been abolished. Justice Minister Rose Mutombo wrote in the circular dated March 13 that the death penalty was reintroduced to rid the army of traitors and curb the resurgence of terrorism and banditry acts. The decision was adopted by a council of ministers on…

Mar

2024

By SONIA ROLLEY

Smudged ID cards, missing names blemish Congo’s $1 billion election

NEWS

CONGOLESE law student Stephanie Mbafumoja was exhilarated to sit for the photo for a voter identity card that would allow her, for the first time, to have a say in the future of her nation. The 23-year-old’s enthusiasm soured when she was handed a card bearing a distorted image she said looked nothing like her. Within a few weeks, the printed text on the card began to fade. "On election day, the card was completely illegible," she said, speaking in the city of Butembo, in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, a month after the December 20 election.…

Mar

2024

By RUTH SACKS

Congo Style: how two dictators shaped the DRC’s art, architecture and monuments

LIFESTYLE

WHAT kind of art is left behind by totalitarian regimes? A new free-to-read book called Congo Style: From Belgian Art Nouveau to African Independence explores the visual culture, architecture and heritage sites of the country today known as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It does so by exploring two now-notorious regimes: King Leopold II’s rule (1885-1908) of Belgium’s Congo colony and Mobutu Sese Seko’s totalitarian Zaire, established when he seized power in a military coup in 1965 after five years of political upheaval. We asked artist and visual culture scholar Ruth Sacks five questions about her book. RUTH SACKS,…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Congolese journalist denied provisional release after months in detention

NEWS

A court in the Democratic Republic of Congo has rejected an appeal for the provisional release of journalist Stanis Bujakera, who has been in detention for more than five months. Bujakera, who works for international media outlets including Reuters, was detained on Sept. 8 and later charged with spreading false information about the killing of a prominent opposition politician. He denies the charges. In its ruling on Tuesday, the court did not provide a reason for the rejection of the appeal to release him from Kinshasa Central Prison. The court had previously rejected several other appeals for his release, also…

Feb

2024

By FELIX NJINI and VERONICA BROWN

Gecamines plans overhaul of mining JVs in world’s top cobalt supplier

BUSINESS

THE Democratic Republic of Congo's state miner is broadening a push to extract more from its copper and cobalt joint ventures, seeking to negotiate for higher stakes across the board to gain leverage in the management of some of its biggest mines. Gecamines is also leveraging existing shareholding in mines to negotiate off-take contracts to trade copper and cobalt on its own. The miner wants more local executives on boards governing joint ventures to have a greater say in how assets are managed, Guy Robert Lukama, the Gecamines chairman, told Reuters. The plans may mean overhauling some terms of agreements…

Feb

2024

By BENOIT NYEMBA and ANGE ADIHE KASONG

Thousands homeless after DR Congo’s worst floods in sixty years

NEWS

IN a makeshift camp for people displaced by floods in the Democratic Republic of Congo, father-of-three Cyprien Seka anxiously watched his baby nap on the floor of a crowded tent and wondered if it would ever be safe to return home. Torrential rains swelled the Congo River to its highest level in over 60 years in late December and forced around 500,000 people to flee the rising waters. "It's been almost a month since we left our homes because of the flooding... We are suffering," Seka said at the camp on the grounds of a Catholic church on the outskirts of the…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

South African military: 2 soldiers killed, 3 wounded on Congo mission

NEWS

SOUTH Africa's military said that two of its soldiers were killed and three wounded by a mortar bomb in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as President Cyril Ramaphosa struck back against opposition claims that they were ill-equipped. South Africa said earlier this week that it would send 2,900 troops as part of its contribution to a force deployed by southern African regional bloc SADC to help Congo fight rebel groups in its restive eastern region. The South African National Defence Force (SANDF) said in a statement posted on X that a mortar bomb landed inside one of the South African contingent's military…

Feb

2024

By DJAFFAR AL KATANTY and SONIA ROLLEY

Congolese city Goma under threat as thousands flee rebel advance

NEWS

A rocket landed near a university in the Congolese city of Goma as thousands of civilians fled a fresh advance by M23 rebels that threatens to isolate the city of around two million people. There were no casualties from the strike, which blasted a crater into open ground in the Lac Vert neighbourhood, but it underscored the potential threat to Goma, a strategic urban hub in the Democratic Republic of Congo's conflict-ridden east. "This shows that M23 is targeting Goma now. The government has to do something to stop M23's progress," 25-year student Sophonie Bayonga said at the scene. The…