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CAN MACRON WOO NIGERIA? Trapped in the Sahel, France is trying to reinvent itself in anglophone Africa
EDITORIAL
WHEN THE LEVERS STOP WORKING
Ignore that man behind the curtain! So went the Wizard of Oz’s desperate command when his pretence had finally been exposed. It’s come to be a metaphor for the inflated self-regard of politicians around the world. Like the Wizard, there comes a time when they pull levers and nothing happens. For many governments, that time is now. The levers no longer work and the centre isn’t holding. It has taken the twin threats of a public health emergency and devastating economic inequities to make this picture plain to all. Some have retreated into nationalism; others into epochal pessimism. The latest report from the US National Intelligence Council, ‘Global Trends 2040’, describes the pandemic as ‘the most significant, singular global disruption since World War II’ in terms of its medical, political and security implications. As people sense that governments are losing their grip, they are mobilising in new ways. That portends, according to the US report, ‘more political volatility, erosion of democracy and expanding roles for alternative providers of governance’. It all adds up to an era of heightened competition between systems of governance and a ‘growing mismatch between what publics need and expect
and what governments can and will deliver’. Although these warnings are in the public domain, national leaders and international bureaucrats haven’t got the message. Public health is an area where starting with the grassroots works so much better than top-down policies. Africa’s experience in dealing with epidemics, especially Ebola, river blindness and Guinea worm, shows the key importance of local initiative. That works for prevention and sounding alarms, as well as organising treatment. Vital intelligence about health crises often comes from farmers in remote areas. It depends on trust. National and international resources are needed to manufacture vaccines and protective equipment, but they require well-informed and credible local groups to distribute them. Such life lessons from the pandemic offer a counter to forecasts of ineluctable descent into authoritarianism or government breakdown. Parallels for education, economic and development policy are obvious. Our new digital networks are joining up grassroots organisations across the globe, sharing expertise and building solidarity. Sending resources to local initiatives, especially those run by women, creates more wealth, more jobs and spreads knowledge. Widely shared warnings of global food shortages should concentrate thinking and funds on the local. None of this is to diminish the importance of getting international accords on corporate taxation, the global distribution of vaccines, or the transfer of allocations of the IMF’s reserve currency to developing economies. Those are necessary conditions for progress, but they are far from sufficient. National governments have to ratchet down the hubris. Admitting the levers don’t work is a good first step. Devolving far more resources and power to the regions and the grassroots is the next stage.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER R 2021
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DRC
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Tshisekedi takes charge
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THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
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Tshisekedi at the African Union, which he chairs for a year until February 2022
Having outmanoeuvred former president Kabila and his allies, the DRC’s President Félix Tshisekedi faces an even tougher challenge: raising money to deliver on his vastly ambitious spending programme ahead of elections in 2023 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
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DRC FOCUS / Tshisekedi takes charge
By PATRICK SMITH and STANIS BUJAKERA TSHIAMALA
succeed in implementing policies and managing the country. […] When you have formed a coalition, you are not going to reproach its members for saying that they think they can be useful to the country.” Some of the compromises have involved Tshisekedi’s rivals, such as Moïse Katumbi [former governor of mineral-rich Katanga] and JeanPierre Bemba. Muyaya emphasises the positive: “We saw something unprecedented: 410 deputies out of 412 present supported the government’s formation. And this is not a blank cheque!” Bemba and Katumbi, both of whom harbour presidential ambitions for 2023, have joined Tshisekedi’s plan for their own reasons. They will stay relevant under the new structure, which includes four deputy prime ministers. They have each nominated one: Bemba’s choice is environment minister Eve Bazaiba Masudi and foreign minister Christophe Lutundula is Katumbi’s. Vital Kamerhe, Tshisekedi’s jailed former chief of staff, has
No one could accuse President Félix Tshisekedi’s government of lacking ambition. When he took control of the cabinet and parliament in April this year, after two years of wrangling with his predecessor, Joseph Kabila, Tshisekedi announced 343 new initiatives. Formidable as it looks, Tshisekedi’s gargantuan to-do list, which his allies say includes urgent economic and social reforms that were held up by Kabila, may benefit from an economic rebound in 2021. Helped by rising commodity prices and its promises of reform, Tshisekedi’s new government has been able to win more backing from multilateral and bilateral financiers. For now, the biggest problems are more political than economic and technical.
Unity rewarded
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343
The number of economic and social reforms Félix Tshisekedi’s government claims it must carry out urgently
Money, money, money
Conducting that vast orchestra will test Tshisekedi’s political skills and deal-making to the limit. An immediate problem is the lack of funding for the reform agenda. No one has a clear plan on how to finance the government’s target budget of $36bn for the next three years. Says Muyaya: “The $36bn must be understood as an ambition. The main thing is that we have the will to mobilise all the additional resources, to put them at the service of the country’s development.” Prime Minister Kyenge is targeting $12bn a year, of which $7bn was recently allocated. “We mobilise each year around $3.5bn-$4bn of our resources,” sighs an elected member of the Union Sacrée. “It would be an illusion to think we could find the necessary [money] to fill the budget in such proportions.” And the shopping list is getting longer. The government has promised to pay retired civil servants the pensions they have been owed dating back
HISTORICAL PRICES 12k
LME Copper
LME Cobalt
55k 50k
10k 45k 8k
40k 35k
6k 30k 4k
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
2021
Ma y
Ap ril
Ma rch
Se pte mb er Oc tob er No ve mb er De ce mb er Jan ua ry Fe bru ary
Jul y
2020
Au gu st
Jun e
Ma y
Ap ril
Ma rch
Fe bru ary
25k Jan ua ry
SOURCE: LONDON METAL EXCHANGE
Tshisekedi’s success in wresting full power from his predecessor started with the sacking of Kabila’s chosen prime minister, Sylvestre Ilunga Ilunkamba in January. It took another three hard months for him to consolidate the grip of his Union Sacrée coalition in the national assembly and appoint an expansive cabinet under the new prime minister, Sama Lukonde Kyenge, on 12 April. Communications minister Patrick Muyaya says the 57 ministers are “necessary to ensure that all 26 provinces were represented” and points out that “the size of the government was still reduced by 15%.” Some critics argue that the compromises made in putting together the government will hamper it as officials try to parcel out resources to their constituencies. Muyaya dismisses this: “For us, creating the Union Sacrée was a struggle. […] Beyond the will to conquer power, the initial ambition is to
five ministers in the government. And new Senate president Modeste Lukwebo has four members of his party, including Adèle Kahinda Mayina, the minister for stateowned enterprises.
MESSAGE
DRC FOCUS / Tshisekedi takes charge
$1.5bn
Copper and cobalt are enjoying a price boom
decades. It also has to find cash – as much as $500m – to pay for the 2023 elections. Tshisekedi has inherited a complex and costly system of 26 provincial governments with 260 provincial ministers. They are meant to receive 40% of national tax revenue but have had almost nothing for several years. This has triggered a fiscal crisis in many provinces. Some help may be on the way from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with which Tshisekedi’s new finance minister, Nicolas Kazadi, negotiated a $1.5bn credit in late May. The loan is to assist Congo’s recovery from the ravages of the coronavirus pandemic. It is conditional on the Tshisekedi government launching still more initiatives, such as
SOURCE: CONGOLESE AUTHORITIES AND IMF STAFF ESTIMATES
CONTRIBUTION TO REAL GDP GROWTH 12 9 6 3 0 -3
2006
2008
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020
Agriculture Extractive industries Secondary sector
52
Tertiary sector Import duties GDP Growth
wholesale reform of the internal revenue system. It also requires much more accountable reporting of the billions of dollars generated in export earnings from gold, copper, cobalt, diamond and coltan.
Kabila loyalists on the board
The IMF deal, premised on far greater accountability, could lead to another $3bn in funds from the World Bank over the next three years. Much of that would be earmarked for the restructuring of state companies and reforms to the state treasury’s management systems. That involves the Banque Centrale du Congo (BCC), whose restructuring is reform number 125 on Tshisekedi’s list. It will mean political battles. Senior staffers and the board of the BCC are mostly Kabila loyalists and will resist reform that could cut into their lucrative sinecures and side businesses. The bank’s board includes Albert Yuma, the powerful chairman of Gécamines, the state-run mining company. In mid-May, Kazadi and the World Bank agreed a package of $500m of loans and grants to improve infrastructure in Kinshasa, which is home to about 14 million people. Outside the capital, the Bank is looking at projects to boost water management, power generation and farm production. Expansion of free primary
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU
IMF loan agreed in May to assist the DRC in its economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic
education, Tshisekedi’s signature programme, has been stalled since the World Bank suspended payments in February on learning that officials were expecting parents to pay the teachers. In a country of 100 million people, most of whom are struggling to escape poverty, the pandemic has wrought a tough economic toll. After growth fell to 1.7% last year, the IMF forecasts it will rise by 4.9% this year, buoyed by booming prices for copper and cobalt. On this basis Tshisekedi and his team hope to deliver on their uber-ambitious agenda. Stalling them will be a divided, but tactically acute, opposition. On one wing there is Kabila and the remaining members of his Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie (PPRD). Its goal is to regain power in 2023, but it is yet to announce who its candidate would be. Kabila himself has been playing a cautious game. Some say he fears arrest, now that Tshisekedi controls the security agencies. A determined opponent of both Kabila and Tshisekedi, Martin Fayulu presides over another wing of opposition, making speeches that sound like a campaign for the presidency in 2023. Fayulu was upheld by many independent organisations as the legitimate winner of the 2018 elections. As Tshisekedi tries to manage the leviathan that is the DRC’s new government, Fayulu is using the country’s current political openness to bolster his coalition. Whether Fayulu can keep that support base together will depend critically on how successful Tshisekedi is achieving his 343-item agenda.
With a little more than 1,800 employees, 100 points of sale, a representative office in Brussels and a consultancy office in Beijing, almost 450,000 customers, and a 27% market share, RAWBANK supports the development of the Congolese economy. Since its creation, Rawbank has been rated by Moody’s and certified ISO/IEC 20000 and ISO/IEC 27001. For 19 years Rawbank has maintained its position as the leader in the banking sector by securing profitability in the DRC’s evolving economic environment. Rawbank is now one of the 16 founding members of CAIBA (China Africa Inter-Bank Association) founded in 2018 along with international and Pan-African banks such as Standard Bank, Absa, Attijariwafa etc., in order to strengthen investment links and trade, between China and African countries. The bank has established financing partnerships with several international institutions (Shelter Africa, TDB, ADB...). Sustainability and profitability are Rawbank’s operational priorities to consolidate its growth strategy throughout all its segments. Rawbank’s primary concern remains to satisfy its customer base (individuals, companies, public entities, NGOs, institutions) through proximity, tailor-made support, responsiveness, innovation particularly in the digital, adapted products, the branch network ... Thus, Rawbank while being a forerunner since its creation is also a solid and reliable bank. Rawbank is a growth accelerator. Our mission addresses several challenges that strengthen this growth such as : • • • • •
Putting the customer at the center of all our decisions To offer the numerous services adapted to their needs To constantly innovate Fully integrate digital technology into our development strategy Focus on human capital through our employees.
Digital banking is a key issue in the DRC and that’s why financial technology is an absolute priority for Rawbank as it should bring about change in payment methods and accelerate the banking of the unbanked population. Rawbank’s ambition is to make innovative digital financial products accessible to all Congolese, wherever they are. To achieve this goal, Rawbank relies on a secure digital ecosystem, which offers freedom, user-friendliness and speed in the execution of daily operations from a smartphone. As a forerunner in the field of digital banking in the DRC, Rawbank has developed the “IllicoCash” solution, which brings together several dematerialized services within a single application. Sending, transferring or withdrawing money, accessing your accounts, topping up your cell phone credit, making international transfers, renewing of cable TV subscription, all these services are available on IllicoCash. In addition, Rawbank is launching its Payment Gateway Service (PGS), an online payment interface to penetrate Africa’s already booming e-commerce market. This secure e-commerce solution is integrated into the seller’s website, allowing VISA or MASTERCARD cardholders to pay their bills online, directly. Despite the difficulties linked to the economic consequences of Covid-19, Rawbank has continued to support its customers. Rawbank is the leading partner for corporates, and is strongly committed to raise its support to SMEs particularly through Lady’s First, a support program with dedicated products to women entrepreneurs who are developing small businesses. In 2020, the bank tied up into an additional partnership with the Trade & Development Bank, this time for $20 million. The whole credit line is dedicated to supporting large companies and SMEs affected by the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic in the DRC. Similarly, at the end of 2020, the African Guarantee Fund renewed its confidence in Rawbank through a support of 35 million dollars for SMEs. These partnerships demonstrate the confidence placed in Rawbank by its international partners.
(+243) 99 60 16 300 Free number : 4488
Rawbank
contact@rawbank.cd - www.rawbank.com
Rawbank Sa
Rawbank
ADVERTORIAL
Rawbank introducing a cutting edge mobile application “illicocash” and raising more funds to support SMEs.
DRC FOCUS /
Jean-Marc Kabund-A-Kabund
BENOIT DOPPAGNE/BELGA VIA AFP
President Félix Tshisekedi’s new Union Sacrée parliamentary majority has personalities from different parties and with different points of view. Find out more about the allies old and new that are key to whether he will be able to achieve his reforms and policy goals.
Modeste Bahati Lukwebo
The defector
Aged 39, Jean-Marc Kabund-a-Kabund engineered the downfall of the Front Commun pour le Congo (FCC), the formidable political machine that guaranteed a certain amount of power for former president Kabila. This makes Kabund one of the pillars of the new majority in government and a key figure on many strategic issues. He regained his position as first vice-president of the national assembly in early February, after having masterfully led the revolution that brought down the FCC. Kabund had been removed from the parliamentary cabinet in May 2020, but this freed him up to act. With the mobilisation experience he had gained as interim president of the Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social, Tshisekedi’s Cap pour le Changement (Cach) platform found its man to turn the tide in its favour.
On 2 March, supported by the Union Sacrée, Modeste Bahati Lukwebo was elected president of the Senate, replacing the Kabila-supporting Alexis Thambwe Mwamba. However, for many years the senator from South Kivu was one of the influential members of former president Joseph Kabila’s camp. Several times a minister in charge of the planning and economic portfolios, his name was on President Félix Tshisekedi’s shortlist for the post of prime minister, which was awarded to Sama Lukonde Kyenge on 15 February. As president of the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques du Congo (AFDC), Bahati Lukwebo was open about his wish to lead an institution in the new administration, justifying this ambition by the weight of his party. Until now, the AFDC was the second political force of Kabila’s Front Commun pour le Congo platform, with 145 elected members. Bahati Lukwebo finally quit Kabila’s camp in 2019 after regular disagreements with Kabila and his allies. He then moved closer to Tshisekedi’s Union pour la Démocratie et le Progrès Social and actively participated in the break-up of the alliance between Tshisekedi and Kabila. He was one of the architects of the Union Sacrée, and on 31 December 2020, the head of state chose him to seek out allies and form a new parliamentary majority.
GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU FOR JA
The strategist
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THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
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Christophe Mboso The veteran
ASSEMBLÉE NATIONALE RDC
His age, 78, the same as that of the US President, has earned him the nickname ‘Biden’. Elected the national assembly’s president on 3 February, Christophe Mboso N’kodia Pwanga has become a key Tshisekedi and Union Sacreé ally. As the longest-serving member of the assembly, he had already been heading the provisional bureau of the lower house since December 2020, following the dismissal of Jeanine Mabunda. The co-founder of the Parti Démocrate et Social Chrétien in 1990, Mboso is a member and executive secretary of the Alliance des Bâtisseurs pour un Congo Emergent. His management of the plenary sessions that brought down Mabunda and the Ilunkamba government established him as a key figure. His role – the country’s second most important in terms of protocol – is to get Tshisekedi’s electoral, security, economic and social reforms through the assembly. That will be essential for the head of state if he wants to run for a second term.
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DRC FOCUS /
Gaston-Thethe Kabwa Kabwe The adviser
In November 2020, when Tshisekedi was about to officialise his parting with Joseph Kabila, he chose Gaston-Thethe Kabwa Kabwe, a lawyer, to be part of a diplomatic mission to Rwanda to discuss security. Officially, Kabwa Kabwe is deputy chief of staff to François Beya, special adviser on security matters to the head of state, but for some time he has made a place for himself in Tshisekedi’s inner circle of advisers. He participates in the President’s strategy sessions and ensures his policies are executed. A professor at the Université de Kinshasa and a lawyer at the bar of Kinshasa-La Gombe, Kabwa Kabwe holds a master’s in comparative law and a doctorate in private law from the Université de Paris-I (Panthéon-Sorbonne). He was on the monitoring committee of the FCC-Cach agreement, which governed the two-year coalition linking Tshisekedi and Kabila, before playing his part in the creation of Tshisekedi’s new coalition, the Union Sacrée. “His availability, his commitment, his calm temperament and his humility are the elements that work in his favour,” says a source in Tshisekedi’s entourage.
Samy Badibanga
Originally close to Etienne Tshisekedi, before his decision to defy a boycott and take his seat in parliament in 2011 caused a rift, Samy Badibanga Ntita served as prime minister, chosen from the opposition in Joseph Kabila’s government from November 2016 to April 2017. Fast-track to 2021, and Badibanga, as first vice-president of the Senate, was able to use his connections to rally parliamentarians to the cause of Félix Tshisekedi’s Union Sacrée coalition and overturn the power-sharing arrangement with Kabila. Appointed by Tshisekedi junior to work with Bahati Lukwebo on building a parliamentary majority for the new coalition, Badibanga was instrumental in turning the Senate over to their side through persuasion and petitions. On 5 March, with Tshisekedi’s agreement, Badibanga resigned from his position as first vice-president of the Senate. He remains a close adviser to the President.
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VINCENT FOURNIER/JA
The loyalist
ADVERTORIAL
DRC FOCUS /
Kabanda said it would take another couple of weeks to see a change on the ground. The armed forces only sent half a Kinshasa-based commando battalion (about 200 men) to Ituri when the measure came into effect. According to General Luboya Nkashama, a military governor: “If resources [are] allocated and measures to restructure the troops on the ground are launched, we should be able to expect an improvement in the overall situation within six months.”
THE EAST
State of insecurity The Tshisekedi government is mounting a military response to insecurity in Ituri and North Kivu, but will it be enough to sort out decades-old problems?
The declaration of a month-long state of siege in May is a sign that the Félix Tshisekedi government is taking more of a security-first approach to the fighting and instability in the Ituri and North Kivu provinces of the eastern DRC. After the first month delivered few improvements on the ground, the government prolonged the state of siege for another two weeks in June. Analysts says it will take much longer to deal with rebel groups preying on local populations and the security forces that refuse to fight them or give them support. The state of siege was a key measure announced by the newly formed government. Placing these two provinces under military administration, replacing governors and deputy governors with officials from the army or
police, and suspending civilian jurisdictions was supposed to help solve the security problem in these regions. The Kivu Security Tracker, a project developed by the Congo Research Group and Human Rights Watch, lists more than 120 armed groups there. The Allied Democratic Forces rebels alone are responsible for the deaths of more than 1,000 civilians since November 2019 in Beni. Critics say that the government’s recent security strategy is not well thought out. It has struggled to organise the financial and human resources for the military push. In early June, defence minister Gilbert
1,000
civilians killed since November 2019 in Beni Territory alone
Soldiers are demotivated, say experts
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Global strategy
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
BRENT STIRTON/GETTY IMAGES/AFP
By STANIS BUJAKERA TSHIAMALA
Analysts say that the state of siege will fail, like other military attempts before it, if it does not take into account all the factors that contribute to the conflict. “The military solution, via a state of siege, does not seem to us to be the appropriate response to the insecurity in these regions,” says Jean-Jacques Wondo, an analyst and expert on military issues. Politics, geopolitics, development and security all play a part. Martin Ziakwau, a researcher on geopolitical dynamics in the eastern DRC, says: “There have already been so many military operations, some of which are still ongoing, and they have never had the expected results. The question today is therefore whether we have a global strategy and how we work to restore lasting peace.” Troops’ passivity in combat and officials collaborating with rebel groups are among the challenges for the army. Juvénal Munubo Mubi, a member of the national assembly’s defence and security commission, advocates restructuring the chain of command of the units deployed in the two provinces and allocating significant logistical and financial resources to the military. It is also necessary to work on regaining the confidence of the population, he insists, “because no war can be won without that”.
ADVERTORIAL
DEVELOPING FIBRE OPTICS IN THE DRC Three questions to Eddy Ngarambe CEO of Saficables Facilitating the acceleration of digital coverage is one of the major challenges facing the Democratic Republic of Congo in the years to come. Saficables, one of the main operators in the deployment of fibre optics in the country, thus plays a key role in terms of competitiveness, cohesion and development of the national territory. Roland Mandaka, the company’s Project General Manager, believes that this challenge will allow the DRC, which is currently ranked 145th in the world in terms of internet access, to bring very high speed internet access to the most remote areas.
What are the main challenges of bringing fibre optics to people with no access to the Internet in the DRC? Deployment in the DRC is slow because we have to deal with dilapidated infrastructure. Introducing fibre optics involves very complex logistics, which becomes problematic when you have to transport hundreds of cables over poor or even non-existent roads. It is definitely a challenge, but we are making progress. We have a clear objective of contributing to the gradual installation of facilities to bring broadband to the most remote populations that have no possibility of connecting to the Internet.
JAMG - PHOTOS DR
Is there really such a huge difference in internet access between cities and rural areas? One cannot even begin to compare the two. Big cities like Kinshasa, Kananga and Muanda offer quality internet access through the roll-out of 3G and 4G technologies. However, beyond these areas, you can drive for thousands of kilometres without finding a single place to get online. Saficables’ mission is therefore really to be a game changer, even though the projects are expensive and involve complex financial arrangements. Nevertheless, we can count on the government’s help, as it is very attentive to the issue of digital technology and aware that having stable and widespread Internet access is a key factor in DRC’s performance and competitiveness.
Has the pandemic had an impact on Saficables’ business? Yes, in recent months our activities have been slowed down by the various restrictions. The logistics of deploying fibre optics are complex. Because our business requires the work of hundreds of people, the health protocols in force – PCR tests, quarantine measures for those who have tested positive for the virus – have hampered our activity. However, there was no way around it, as our teams travel from city to city and from province to province. We couldn’t risk spreading the virus. The gradual lifting of restrictions, and in particular the curfew – which is still in force in the major cities – means that activity is almost back to normal. This is an encouraging sign and I am confident in our ability to roll-out the fibre optics necessary to getting the internet to places where it is not yet available. Saficables has been in business for over four years and our past actions have enabled NGOs, businesses, government entities and residents of major cities to benefit from a fast and efficient connection. Our ultimate goal is to erase the disparities and the significant development gap in rural areas of the DRC. Saficables aims to be a leader in the deployment of fibre optics throughout Central Africa, mainly in DRC, Angola, Congo Brazzaville and soon Gabon, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
Saficables
84 avenue Equateur, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of Congo Tel: +243 81 36 92337 Email: roland.mandaka@saficables-rdc.com Email: arrachant@saficables-rdc.com
www.saficables-rdc.com
DRC FOCUS /
JOHN BOMPENGO FOR TAR
Equity Bank bought ProCredit in 2015
FINANCE
Kenya’s Equity Bank is optimistic about its DRC bet Having bought two Congolese banks, the DRC now represents a major focus of Kenya’s top bank By DAVID WHITEHOUSE Equity Group expects its Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC) operation in the DRC to make a “significant” contribution to group profitability from the second half of this year, CEO James Mwangi tells The Africa Report. One-off costs for the business have so far prevented such a contribution, Mwangi said following the release of Equity Group’s first-quarter results. In 2022, Mwangi expects that Equity BCDC will start making a profit contribution proportionate to the 27% share of Equity Group’s balance sheet for which it accounts, as synergies and economies of scale come into effect. “That growth won’t need additional investment,” Mwangi said. BCDC will be “leveraging the group’s existing infrastructure and digital assets”.
Equity Group has operated in the DRC since its purchase of ProCredit Bank in 2015. Equity then bought BCDC in August 2020. Equity BCDC, created by merging Equity Bank Congo with BCDC at the end of last year, is the second-largest subsidiary of Equity Group. Political change has shaped Mwangi’s growing confidence in the DRC. He attributes this to President Félix Tshisekedi’s “commitment to reforms” and the fact that he is no longer governing in coalition with former president Joseph Kabila. Equity Group already has a 28%
28% Equity Group’s market share in the DRC
market share in the DRC and will keep investing in the country as part of an organic growth strategy, Mwangi said. He is also encouraged by the US granting preferential free-trade status to the DRC: “That gives us confidence. It’s not an internal arrangement that is being made. The country has to keep on track with reforms.” The DRC regained beneficiary status under the African Growth and Opportunity Act as of 1 January. The status had been suspended due to human rights violations under Kabila.
Prudent provisions
Equity Group cut its group forecast for 2021 loan growth in its first-quarter statement. Loans are now predicted to increase by 20% to 25% this year, versus a previous forecast of 25% to 30%. The lower prediction is the result of repeated lockdowns in Nairobi in April and May, Mwangi says, noting that the capital city accounts for 60% of Kenya’s GDP. The bank also revised upwards its predicted return on equity for 2021 to between 25% and 30% from the previous forecast of 22% to 27%, and its return on assets to between 3.6% and 4.3%, versus 3.0%-4.0%. The cost of risk forecast was reduced to a range of 1.5% to 2.5% from 2.0%-3.0%. Mwangi says these forecasts were due to “prudent” provisions made in 2020: “Provisioning made last year means that we don’t need additional risk coverage […]. There is unlikely to be any adverse quality deterioration” in the bank’s loan book. According to Cytonn Investments in Nairobi, Equity Group restructured the largest absolute number of loans among Kenyan banks in 2020, at KSh171bn ($1.6bn). This accounted for 35.8% of the bank’s total loans, with only Diamond Trust among major Kenyan banks having a higher ratio, at 45%.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116 / JULY-AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2021
61
KIBALI GOLD CONTINUES
ITS VIRTUOUS MOMENTUM
This successful gold mine in the north-east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) would not be able to celebrate its positive results unless the profits were shared with the Congolese community. This virtuous policy has had a significant positive impact on the communities around Kibali. Central African Republic
KIBALI gold mine
N
Congo
BARRICK
Democratic Democratic Republic Republic of Congo Congo of
Angola Zambia 1000 km
Uganda
Tanzania
Through an active prevention strategy and worker mobilisation, the Barrick-operated Kibali Gold mine was able to maintain stable production of 191,612 ounces throughout the health crisis, thereby achieving first quarter production results in line with expectations. Once again, it was the underground mine of this integrated open pit-underground operation that drove production, with continued improvements in throughput and recovery rates also contributing to Kibali’s performance. Other improvements made during the quarter, including an upgrade to the hoisting infrastructure, are expected to further boost its performance. Lastly, due to the high water levels in the rivers feeding the mine’s three hydroelectric plants, power generation costs were reasonable. The power supply grid was recently upgraded with the installation of a 9 MW battery standby unit, which will also reduce the need for emergency diesel-generated backup, reflecting the mine’s strategy to reduce its carbon footprint. The processing plant was therefore able to maintain its strong performance, with higher throughput and recovery rates. In addition, the cyanide destruction and recovery pilot plant demonstrates the po-
tential for improved cost and operational efficiency, as well as further reduction in environmental risk. This allows for continued sharing of the mine’s profits by associating the mine with a number of local development projects such as the completion of sections 3 and 4 of the Durba concrete road, the provision and opening of various water supply facilities for the villages of Nganya, Angarakali, Kanana and Renzi, the construction of the Doko 2 training centre and pig farm, and the ongoing training of Congolese managers and technicians.
Kibali Gold contributed to the national Covid response. The mine’s strict compliance with prevention procedures largely protected it from the impact of the second wave of the pandemic. The company also stepped up its partnerships, for example, in agri-
PLANT PERFORMANCE Kibali gold production in Q1 (koz)1 80 60
65
40
68 59
20 0
Jan-21
Feb-21
Mar-21
ADVERTORIAL
Kibali Gold in the DRC Kibali Gold’s impact on various communities is considerable. Since 2010, the company has assisted in the construction of schools and clinics, and, in the first quarter of 2021, paid $35 million to local contractors. Ongoing civil engineering works and roads were completed by Congolese contractors (Iter Oriental Business – IOB,Top Engineering Services – TES, and Bravo Tozali Company – BTC). It set up a partnership with Congolese engineering company TES for the maintenance of the facilities. Furthermore, catering and accommodation services at Kibali are provided by Golden Camp Solutions (GCS), a Congolese company, with Kibali’s caterer buying 100% of its quality fresh food locally. Accommodation and meals are managed by the Tabitha Sisters Guest House. Kibali Gold is committed to developing a range of community programmes such
INVESTMENT IN THE COUNTRY in millions of US dollars
Payments to contractors and suppliers US$2.09 billion
US$ 3.5 billion
Infrastructure and community support US$185 million Wages US$471 million
Royalties, taxes and licences US$759 million
Furthermore, Kibali is maintaining its support for the Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the oldest in Africa and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The national park support programme includes tracking collars for elephants, fuel for patrol planes and infrastructure improvements, resulting in zero documented cases of elephant poaching in the park in 2020. The next major undertaking is a plan to reintroduce white rhino and giant eland to the park.
What does the future hold? Since the start of the Kibali Gold Mine development in 2010, the mine has contributed $3.5 billion to the DRC economy. Looking ahead, Kibali has secured additional open pit opportunities to balance its underground mine, continue to replace reserves and add flexibility to the operation to support its robust 10year plan. “We look forward to working closely with His Excellency the President of the Republic, Felix-Antoine Tshisekedi and his new coalition government to further strengthen our partnership with the DRC and to resolve certain outstanding issues relating to the Mining Code and repatriation of cash,” said Mark Bristow, President and Chief Executive Officer of Barrick Gold Corporation, which operates the Kibali gold mine. 4329, avenue Tombalbaye 3rd floor - Building Le Prestige Kinshasa/Gombe Democratic Republic of Congo www.barrick.com
JAMG - PHOTOS DR
business, with local procurement at Kibali, a donation of more than $2 million (mainly in equipment) to support central, provincial and local government (beyond the pledged $1.5 million), and the building of a treatment and isolation centre in Surur (Durba).
as the provision of school books and desks and vocational employment workshops for young people. For example, during the year 2020, Kibali Gold assisted 71 students with scholarships in various fields at several universities in the country. In 2021, the mine pursued its investment in community development, advancing the concreting of a 1.5 km section of the Durba road. The provision of additional drinking water facilities to surrounding villages was also scaled up. During the first quarter, the mine launched an innovative campaign to stimulate the Durba economy by issuing employees with local shopping vouchers.
LAST WORD
FUN NMI ADEBAYO Digittal entrepreneur, nomad, writer, avid solo traveller, menttal health advocate, spoken word poet, public speaaker and ex-finance professional
To say I’m disappointed in Britain would be an understatement. I think for many British Africans, we have got to a point where we are either questioning our place in British identity or ready to completely denounce it. It feels to me that Britain is wedded to its nostalgia of empire. Its sense of greatness and British identity now clearly feels predicated on holding onto the delusion that it can an be a geopolitical kingmaker. ‘Global Britain’ may at first appear to o be an innocent attempt at being open to building trade partnerships with the world. On closer inspection, though, it is far more nefarious. So much so that it isn’t a sleightof-hand nod to colonialism but rather the reemergence of a new, modern colonialist venture. I am not only talking about what Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said, but rather the ‘Global Britain in a Competitive Age’ government report that is a manifesto to this end. They may as well have dubbed it ‘Project Colonialism 2.0’. Johnson has laid his jingoistic intentions bare: ‘The fundamentals of this Government’s approach to national security and international policy are
146 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 116
Britain's government sees Africa as the centre of its ‘Global Britain’ policy. The government report ‘The UK and Sub-Saharan Africa: prosperity, peace and development co-operation’ published last year is a 164-page document focused entirely on how Britain plans to engage. Its mere positioning as a power equal to four-fifths of a continent expresses its perspective on Africa. It would never so boldly publish such a report about Asia. Describing Britain’s soft power, the report defines it as, ‘rooted in who we are as a country: our values and way of life, and the vibrancy and diversity of our union. It is central to our international identity as an open, trustworthy inte and d innovative country.’ Museums are listed as central. So any hopes that the British Museum Act of 1963 will be revoked – and the Benin Bronzes returned, for example – are clearly pipe dreams. Britain’s government sees its museums as just as important in maintaining its sense of power and identity as trade relationo ships. This firmly positions war, theft and colonialism as central to the British identity. It’s important that Africans and British Africans hold this government to account and decide if the greatness of Britain relies on the weakness of Africa.
L. FLEISHMAN/NYT-REDUX-REA
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
COLONIALISM 2.0
reflected in the actions we have taken since the 2019 general election. They demonstrate an active approach to delivering in the interests of the British people: sustaining the UK’s openness as a society and economy, underpinned by a shift to a more robust position on security and deterrence. This runs alongside a renewed commitment to the UK as a force for good in the world – defending openness, democracy and human rights.’ Anybody with a decent grasp of history would shiver at this brazen declaration of Britain First ideology. British colonialism in Africa was built on this approach: that Britain’s ‘force’ for good comes with increased spending on ‘security and deterrence’ – in other words, violence.
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