China’s DR Congo hydropower projects: a win-win deal or short circuit?
- The Busanga dam will provide a major boost to the local mining industry, but President Felix Tshisekedi wants to renegotiate ‘unfair’ deals with foreign firms
- The central African country’s large cobalt resources – a key element for electric car batteries – have attracted the attention of both China and the West
A major Chinese-funded and built hydropower dam taking shape in the southeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo may find itself affected by the Congolese president’s desire to renegotiate deals signed with foreign mining companies.
Work on the US$660 million Busanga Hydropower Station began in 2017 and once completed the project will provide power to a major mining project, Sicomines, in the mineral-rich region.
The hydropower project is part of a minerals-for-infrastructure deal signed in 2007 by former president Joseph Kabila, under which Chinese firms agreed to construct US$3 billion in infrastructure in return for a 68 per cent stake in the mine.
The DRC agreed to pay back the funding with copper and cobalt produced by the mine under a device known as resource-backed loans.
However, such deals have been criticised by non-governmental organisations, including Global Witness, for their lack of transparency and allegations that Congolese politicians benefit from them more than the public.
