Power, Action, Accountability, Change

Congolese Support Group

Basali Ya Ekolo

 

We believe in value sharing, bringing together all DR Congolese people, fighting for the just liberation of our country & promoting education, integration and our Congolese culture.

Congolese Support Group

Basali Ya Ekolo

We believe in value sharing, bringing together all DR Congolese people, fighting for the just liberation of our country & promoting education, integration and our Congolese culture.

Flag-map_of_the_Democratic_Republic_of_the_Congo.png
 

North Korea In DRC

 

Russian bank VTB discussed the possibility of the Democratic Republic of Congo issuing a sovereign Eurobond during recent meetings in the central African country, the bank said on Wednesday.

Congolese officials said on Monday that VTB bankers had met with Prime Minister Bruno Tshibala to discuss a possible $1 billion investment fund to finance "strategic projects".

VTB, whose emerging markets-focused investment banking arm VTB Capital is active in Africa, said in a statement that it had given no commitment to lend to Congo and that it did not currently plan to.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo talked about issuing a roughly $1 billion Eurobond early last year, but it later abandoned the idea as the country's economy deteriorated.

Africa's top copper producer has been hit hard by low commodity prices in recent years.

It has only enough foreign currency reserves to cover about three weeks of imports and its franc currency has lost half its value in the past year.

A spokesman at Congo's prime minister's office said on Wednesday he was not aware of recent discussions about a Eurobond.

VTB, Russia's second-largest bank, played a role in $2 billion of loans taken out in secret by Mozambique, which has since defaulted on repayment.

VTB has denied any wrongdoing relating to the Mozambique transactions.

(Reporting by Alexander Winning in Moscow and Aaron Ross in Kinshasa; editing by Maria Kiselyova and Jason Neely)

North Korea provided Congolese police and soldiers with equipment and 30 instructors to train special forces and the presidential guard. In return they have signed deal with Mr Kabila to buy Iranium illegally. South Korea watchdog. By: Peter Tshamala

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In Congo, silence surrounds forgotten mine that fueled first atom bombs.

The US sourced uranium for the weapons used on Japan from Shinkolobwe; though the site is closed, locals mine illegally

KCNA: North Korea delegation met with Democratic Republic of Congo officials

North Korea’s top diplomat visits Congo, aiming to step up cooperation, visit included part of broader effort to buy Iranium,  sell arms and rebuild economic ties with DR Congo and some African nations.

An expert told NK News the effort is related to an attempt to mend North Korea’s economic relations with African countries, which often generate hard currency from arms trades and the production of bronze statues.

 

“The North sells weapons including rifles to African countries… (who) buy a lot because the North’s arsenal is very cheap, and there are a lot of conflicts in the region,” Kim Jin-moo, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses (KIDA) said.

 

The DR Congo has long suffered from inter-regional and inter-ethnic conflicts, but in mid-May dismissed claims that North Korea had provided its police with weapons as an “outright lie”.

 

The response came following a UN Panel of Experts (PoE) report which said North Korea provided Congolese police and soldiers with equipment and 30 instructors to train special forces and the presidential guard.

 

“There are many autocratic states in Africa, so they tend to build up a lot of huge statues for idolization of dictators. In that regard, (North Korea’s) Mansudae Art Studio makes statues in the region so as to gain money,” Kim, the KIDA researcher said.

 

The current President of the DR Congo is Joseph Kabila, who is a son of former President Laurent Kabila, who was assassinated.

“It is very significant that the North maintain those (economic) relations,” Kim added.

 

Another delegation, led by Vice-Foreign Minister Sin Hong Chol, visited Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo in early August, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry confirmed during a regular news briefing last week.

 

On August 2, South Korean FM Yun also held a bilateral meeting with his Congolese counterpart, Raymond Tshibanda N’tungamulongo, on the subject of the North’s Africa strategy, the South’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released on the same day.

 

Yun called the DR Congo to participate actively in international efforts in response to the North’s nuclear program, such as full implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 2270, the ministry added.

 

Peter Tshamala

Reviewed of 16/08/2016