The publication of the contract signed between the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Ventora company of Dan Gertler, which was to take place this Friday, November 25, has been postponed to a later date. This is what our sources at the Presidency say. No formal reason is given.
In terms of public opinion, the content of this contract is highly anticipated. Several civil society organizations insist on the need to make the Ventora-DRC agreement public, within the framework of citizen control.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) already insisted in July 2022 on the publication of the memorandum of understanding signed between Dan Gertler and the Congolese government. According to the Congolese authorities, this text allowed the State to recover mining and oil assets, estimated at 2 billion dollars in exchange in particular for the abandonment of the proceedings.
The IMF had appreciated the fact that the government organized a two-day roundtable on this issue for the benefit of civil society, but it felt that this was not enough.
For its part, the government justified the non-publication of the content of this agreement by the confidentiality clauses which surround it. This is contrary to the prescriptions of the mining code which impose the publication of all mining contracts, their annexes and riders in the Official Journal and on the website of the Ministry of Mines within sixty days of the date of their signature.
Things have moved. “The contract is being finalized. There was a first agreement which was the subject of additional discussions,” Nicolas Kazadi, Congolese finance minister, told the press this week.
According to him, the contract is almost finalized: “In principle in the next few days, it will be made public. We hope to do it before the end of the week, as planned. And we will turn the page of this contract to move forward. This will allow the country to recover its mining assets,” he added.
The publication of this contract could take place at the beginning of next week, according to our sources.
Visits:328 Today: 180 Total: 4841697
