Tar62 drc focus

nigeria The litmus test election in Ekiti

drC Kabila puts economy on ice

SoUtH aFriCa SAA and Eskom, the vulnerable parastatals

w w w.t hea f r ic a r ep or t .c om

N ° 6 2 • J U LY 2 014

the africa report

CommodiTies

The trade challenge With new rules and new markets, African companies fight for a bigger stake in the continent’s resource bonanza

Aliko Dangote, CEO Dangote Group, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO eleni LLC and Ivan Glasenberg, CEO Glencore Xstrata

monthly • n° 62 • july 2014

groupe jeune afrique international edition

Algeria 550 DA • Angola 600 Kwanza • Austria 4.90 € • Belgium 4.90 € • Canada 6.95 CAN$ • Denmark 60 DK • Ethiopia 75 Birr • France 4.90 € • Germany 4.90 € • Ghana 7 GH¢ • Italy 4.90 € • Kenya 410 shillings • Liberia $LD 300 • Morocco 50 DH • Netherlands 4.90 € • Nigeria 600 naira Norway 60 NK • Portugal 4.90 € • Sierra Leone LE 9,000 • South Africa 30 rand (tax incl.) • Spain 4.90 € • Switzerland 9.90 FS • Tanzania 6,500 shillings • Tunisia 8 DT • Uganda 9,000 shillings • UK £ 4.50 • United States US$ 6.95 • Zimbabwe US$ 4 • CFA Countries 3,500 F CFA

NIGERIA The litmus test election in Ekiti

DRC Kabila puts economy on ice

contents

SOUTH AFRICA SAA and Eskom, the vulnerable parastatals

w w w.t heafr icarep or t.com

N ° 6 2 • J U LY 2 0 14

COMMODITIES

The trade challenge With new rules and new markets, African companies fight for a bigger stake in the continent’s resource bonanza

Aliko Dangote, CEO Dangote Group, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, CEO eleni LLC and Ivan Glasenberg, CEO Glencore Xstrata

The AfricA reporT # 62 - july 2014

GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE INTERNATIONAL EDITION

Algeria 550 DA • Angola 600 Kwanza • Austria 4.90 € • Belgium 4.90 € • Canada 6.95 CAN$ • Denmark 60 DK • Ethiopia 75 Birr • France 4.90 € • Germany 4.90 € • Ghana 7 GH¢ • Italy 4.90 € • Kenya 410 shillings • Liberia $LD 300 • Morocco 50 DH • Netherlands 4.90 € • Nigeria 600 naira Norway 60 NK • Portugal 4.90 € • Sierra Leone LE 9,000 • South Africa 30 rand (tax incl.) • Spain 4.90 € • Switzerland 9.90 FS • Tanzania 6,500 shillings • Tunisia 8 DT • Uganda 9,000 shillings • UK £ 4.50 • United States US$ 6.95 • Zimbabwe US$ 4 • CFA Countries 3,500 F CFA

04 Editorial Democracy’s tarnished model

20

06 lEttErs 08 thE QuEstion

Briefing 10 signposts 12 intErnational

66 local contEnt Cultivating homegrown talent Governments are supporting local firms, helping them enter global supply chains and putting them in line to win lucrative government contracts 72 mozambiQuE Infrastructure obstacles slow Mozambique’s coal producers

16 pEoplE 18 calEndar

frontLine

73 tElEcoms New era of consolidation in the south

20 commoditiEs The trade challenge New rules and new markets mean that African companies are now fighting to gain a greater stake in the continent’s resource bonanza cover crediTs: sundAy AlAmbA/Ap/sipA; eric lArrAyAdieu/ceo forum; simon dAwson/bloomberg/geTTy imAges; All righTs reserved

Business

74 intErviEw Rio Tinto’s Alan Davies 78 financE Policies to encourage banks both large and small 79 hannibal

poLitics

dossiEr

26 nigEria The litmus test poll The vote for a new governnor in Ekiti State could provide a foretaste of how the national elections will play out in 2015

66

30 south africa This time our people must benefit 37 uganda Dissidents begin to shake Museveni’s base

80 agribusinEss Africa has the potential to feed the world Nigeria’s agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina outlines the much-needed rice revolution in the country’s north 83 Ethiopia Tef tops the agricultural agenda 84 privatE EQuity Global funds for African farmers

41 mali Conundrums in khaki

Art & Life

42 malawi A brotherly legacy 42 libya Too many PMs

88 KEnya Running in Iten

43 anansi

92 in briEf African mobile phone apps and writer Dayo Olopade

country focus 45 dEmocratic rEpublic of congo Will he stay or will he go?

The economy is stuck in limbo with key decisions unresolved as President Kabila manoeuvres to stay beyond the end of his term the africa report

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94 lifEstylE Mulatu Astatke talks Ethiojazz, plus Joburg burger bars

80

98 day in thE lifE Bright Kpocha, street artist This issue carries an insert between pages 66-67 for selected countries

3

4

editorial

The AfricA reporT A Groupe Jeune Afrique publication

By Patrick Smith

57‑Bis, rue d’Auteuil – 75016 PAris – FrAnce tel: (33) 1 44 30 19 60 – FAx: (33) 1 44 30 19 30 www.theafricareport.com

Democracy’s tarnished model

I

stanbul, as it turns out, is a good place to discuss politics in Africa. The Turkish city straddling the fault lines of Europe and Asia demonstrates just what effective policies and institutions can achieve: rapid modernisation, better public services, more jobs, credible elections and the end of military rule. So is it a promising example for those searching for ways to marry economic growth with democracy?

Not exactly. Rather, it points to the continuing difficulties of mediating between the two. Important as the gains have been, the Turkish model – at home and in North Africa – is tarnished. It has been a little more than a year since millions of activists joined demonstrations across the country sparked by government efforts to tear up Istanbul’s Taksim Gezi Park. Quickly, the protestors’ targets widened to include creeping authoritarianism and the undermining of secularism.

Despite Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s dismissal of the protestors as “just a few looters”, they swept across the country. In clashes with the security forces, 11 people were killed and more than 8,000 injured.

Here in Istanbul, we are a group of foreign correspondents taking stock with officials and businesspeople from Africa and Turkey at a conference on energy.

What went wrong last year? How resilient is the democratic system?

How serious is the corruption and environmental degradation? How widely shared are the fruits of this impressive growth? For the African attendees, such issues are at the top of the agenda at a time when economies are bounding ahead amid mounting social

Cha i r m a n a nd f o und e r Béchir Ben yAhMed P ub l i s he r dAnielle Ben yAhMed publisher@theafricareport.com e x e Cut i ve P ub l i s he r JérôMe MillAn

discontent. Equally, for Turkey, Africa’s economic acceleration presents exciting commercial and strategic opportunities.

A Kenyan official described his country’s new constitution, with its provisions for devolution and requirements for local consultation, as “too democratic”.

A case of “directed democracy”, that would have been music to Premier Erdoğan’s ears. The official recalled a recent bout of protests: “We’re trying to build a pipeline, a road, a railway […] but people are using the constitution – their rights – to take us to court. That Developing may sound good, but we’re stopping the economies economy, holding up are development.” bounding Providing better public services is nonahead amid negotiable, they said, mounting as is a free press and the rule of law. But the social members of the group discontent also saw a wind of authoritarianism blowing through Africa, even gusting across Ethiopia and Rwanda, and predicted that it can only blow harder with instability and insurgencies fanning out from the Horn and the Sahel. And Turkey, which has been a leading supporter of the opposition in Syria and whose second-largest trading partner is Iraq, is well acquainted with regional political risk. Walking across Istanbul’s cross-cultural cityscape – from the Blue Mosque to a forest of gleaming metallic skyscrapers – it’s clear that Turkey’s struggle for democracy is far from over and that there are important lessons to be drawn from its journey so far. ●

m a r K e t i nG & d e ve l o P m e nt AlisOn KinGsley‑hAll e d i t o r i n Chi e f PAtricK sMith m a na G i nG e d i t o r nichOlAs nOrBrOOK editorial@theafricareport.com a s s i s ta nt e d i t o r chArlie hAMiltOn e d i t o r i a l a s s i s ta nt OheneBA AMA nti Osei r e G i o na l e d i t o r PArselelO KAntAi (east Africa) a rt & l i f e e d i t o r rOse sKeltOn s ub - e d i t o r s AlisOn culliFOrd MArshAll vAn vAlen P r o o f r e a d i nG KAthleen GrAy a rt d i r e Ct o r MArc trensOn desiGn vAlérie Olivier christOPhe chAuvin éMeric thérOnd P r o d uCt i o n PhiliPPe MArtin christiAn KAsOnGO r e s e a r Ch AnitA cOrthier P ho t o G r a P hy clAire vAtteBled o nl i ne JeAn‑MArie Miny Prince OFOri‑AttA sales sAndrA drOuet sOlène deFrAncq tel: (33) 1 44 30 18 07 – Fax: (33) 1 45 20 09 67 sales@theafricareport.com cOntAct FOr suBscriPtiOn: Webscribe ltd unit 8 the Old silk Mill Brook street, tring hertfordshire hP23 5eF united Kingdom tel: + 44 (0) 1442 820580 Fax: + 44 (0) 1442 827912 email: subs@webscribe.co.uk 1 year subscription (10 issues): All destinations: €39 ‑ $59 ‑ £35 tO Order Online: www.theafricareportstore.com d i f Co m internAtiOnAl AdvertisinG And cOMMunicAtiOn AGency 57‑Bis, rue d’Auteuil 75016 PAris ‑ FrAnce tel: (33) 1 44 30 19‑60 – Fax: (33) 1 44 30 18 34 advertising@theafricareport.com a d ve rt i s i nG d i r e Ct o r nAthAlie Guillery r e G i o na l m a na G e r s cArOline Ah KinG FAdOuA yAqOBi liliA BenAceur elOdie BOussOnniere us r e P r e s e ntat i ve AzizA AlBOu a.albou@groupeja.com

editorial@theafricareport.com the africa report

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Printer: sieP 77 ‑ FrAnce n° de cOMMissiOn PAritAire : 0715 i 86885 dépôt légal à parution / issn 1950‑4810 the AFricA rePOrt is published by GrOuPe Jeune AFrique

info@primature.cd www.primature.cd/public/investir

6

letters For all your comments, suggestions and queries, please write to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis Rue d’Auteuil - Paris 75016 - France. or editorial@theafricareport.com

any use of force will be fatal

t

NIgERIA Security services penetrated

by Boko Haram

RwANDA President Kagame: “France helped prepare the genocide”

SouTH AfRIcA The new opposition generation

he abduction of the Chibok schoolgirls [‘Media headlines, security deadlines’, TAR61 June 2014] is just one of the frequent kidnappings carried out by Boko Haram in the country. Chibok is only different because of the number of people involved and the massive international attention Africa-Brazil it received. The authorities are now in a tight spot, torn between using force or negotiating with the militant sect. The best option will be to swap the girls with detained relatives of the insurgents as any use of force will be fatal for the girls. Unfortunately, the incompetence of President Jonathan and his government is hampering the rescue operation. Secondly, money drained through corruption has left the army and security forces underfunded and ill-trained. I believe the Chibok girls can be freed and one step forward will be to engage Islamic clerics in northern Nigeria to reach out and amicably secure the girls’ release.

Mallam Shehu Sani President of Civil Rights Congress of Nigeria, via telephone w w w.t hea f r ic a repo r t .c om

N ° 61 • J U N E 2 014

Dilma Rousseff, Neymar, Yaya Touré, Pelé and Jacob Zuma

A love affair

The warm embrace across the Atlantic may be built on shared history, but beneath the surface lies the realpolitik of sharp economic interests

GROUPE JEUNE AFRIQUE

INTERNATIoNAL EDITIoN

Algeria 550 DA • Angola 600 Kwanza • Austria 4.90 € • Belgium 4.90 € • Canada 6.95 CAN$ • Denmark 60 DK • Ethiopia 75 Birr • France 4.90 € • Germany 4.90 € • Ghana 7 GH¢ • Italy 4.90 € • Kenya 410 shillings • Liberia $LD 300 • Morocco 50 DH • Netherlands 4.90 € • Nigeria 600 naira Norway 60 NK • Portugal 4.90 € • Sierra Leone LE 9,000 • South Africa 30 rand (tax incl.) • Spain 4.90 € • Switzerland 9.90 FS • Tanzania 6,500 shillings • Tunisia 8 DT • Uganda 9,000 shillings • UK £ 4.50 • United States US$ 6.95 • Zimbabwe US$ 4 • CFA Countries 3,500 F CFA

Police need resources to halt illicit cash flow The problem of illicit flows [‘The fight against dirty money goes global’, TAR61 June 2014] and trade misinvoicing in Africa has been a known for at least 50 years. Until recently, it was thought of as solely a problem of poor governance, crony officials and poor macroeconomic conditions. Little attention was given to the other side of this equation, the fact that the global shadow financial system – created by the West – is equally responsible.

African countries need the resources to police illicit flows at the domestic level. Forcing companies to disclose

profits on a country-by-country basis, as well as disclosing the beneficial owners of offshore accounts, will contribute greatly to curbing illicit flows.

Brian LeBlanc Junior Economist, Global Financial Integrity, via Email

exPats, make uP your mind Dear African diaspora [‘Our African and American story’, TAR60 May 2014], the grass is not necessarily green back home! People need to make up their minds when it comes to returning home or staying abroad. We need to stop luring ourselves into the possibility

that it will be convenient and bearable to make a living back home. It won’t be. We are no stranger to what the continent is going through economically, politically and socially.

The decision to go back is either made out of personal motives or clearly out of patriotism. The guilt trip is uncalled for once the decision has been made to stay abroad. I know my journey will end where it has started, where I belong!

Oeku Menik via Email

africa should not be a food dumPing ground Many people confuse the concept of cheap food with affordable food [‘From (cold) poultry war to land grabs’, TAR61 June 2014]. For most of the developing world, once people have urbanised the only way that food can be sustainably affordable is if you are employed and have some sort of disposable income. Most African countries will not create sustainable economies by importing goods, especially something as basic as food, which we can all produce wherever we are. Brazil, the US and the EU make up about 80% of trade, with the USA and the EU selling essentially only what their own people do not want to eat. Why should Africa be a surplus dumping ground for the rich world?

Kevin Lovell CEO, South African Poultry Association via email

How To gET youR copy of THE AfRIcA REpoRT On sale at your usual outlet. If you experience problems obtaining your copy, please contact your local distributor, as shown below. ghana: GREENWICH MAGAZINES & BOOKS, Mr Ernest Asare, +233 (0)208 142 374, greenmaghana@gmail.com – kenya: NATION MEDIA GROUP, Josephine Bonareri Abuga, +254 (0)20 32 88507, JAbuga@ke.nationmedia.com – nigeria: NEWSSTAND AGENCIES LTD, Solomon Otinwa, +234 (0)709 8123 459, newsstand2008@gmail. com – sierra leone: RAI GERB ENTERPRISES, Mohammad Gerber, +232 (0)336 72 469, raigerbenterprise@gmail.com – southern africa: RNA DISTRIBUTION, Luisa Rebelo, +27 (0)11 602 9800 • luisar@magcservices.co.za – tanZania: MWANANCHI COMMUNICATIONS, Emmanuel J Lyimo, +255 716 500 500, elyimo@ tz.nationmedia.com – uganda: MONITOR PUBLICATIONS LTD, Stephen Eselu, +256 (0)702 178 198, seselu@ug.nationmedia.com – united kingdom: COMAG, Mark Swan, +44 (0)1895 433791, Mark.Swan@comag.co.uk – united states & canada: LMPI, Sylvain Fournier, +1 514 355 5610, lmpi@lmpi.com – Zimbabwe: MUNN MARKETING (PVT) LTD, Nick Ncube, +263 (0)4 662755, nickncube@munnmarketing.co.zw For other regions go to www.theafricareport.com

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8

the question To respond to this month’s Question, visit www.theafricareport.com. You can also find The Africa Report on Facebook and on Twitter @theafricareport. Comments, suggestions and queries can also be sent to: The Editor, The Africa Report, 57bis Rue d’Auteuil, Paris 75016, France or editorial@theafricareport.com

the african union (au) was the first international body to condemn the ousting of President morsi in July 2013. now that the ‘ouster’, abdel Fattah al-sisi, is egypt’s elected president the au looks likely to lift its suspension

Should Egypt’s suspension from the African Union be lifted?

Yes Désiré AssogbAvi Head of Oxfam International Liaison Office with the African Union

However, I have a ‘but’ to my yes. The African Union [AU] has rules on sanctions that govern any unconstitutional change of government. And there is no doubt that what happened in Egypt was an unconstitutional change of government. There is another rule that says in the case of an unconstitutional change the authors of that change should not contest any elections that follow. This rule has been clearly ignored

by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, so in principle the AU should not admit Egypt back. However, I don’t think the AU has anything to gain by keeping this important member out of the Union for four years. The AU has a dilemma: either to violate its own principles or to keep this contributing member outside. I am in favour of the readmission of Egypt. First, the principle of the non-participation of the authors of a coup d’état has already been violated by the AU itself in the case of Mauritania, whose president is the current chairperson of the AU. Second, sanctions have not been fairly or equally applied in the past.

Until the AU clearly defines the scope of the implementation of the rules that govern unconstitutional changes of government I believe that Egypt should be readmitted, but under certain conditions – the establishment of the rule of law; civil and political liberty for all; the dismissal of the death penalties against the supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood; and concrete steps towards national reconciliation. ●

No HAllelujAH lulie Researcher, Institute for Security Studies, Addis Ababa

One of the African Union’s biggest successes has been its zero-tolerance policy towards unconstitutional changes of government: using a stick – sanctions and suspension – to promote democracy, good governance, fair and free elections and constitutional order in the continent. Receiving Egypt back would be wrong on many levels. It sends a very wrong signal to other member states. It will be affirming accusations that the AU is an Orwellian society where some are more equal than others.

It will be contradicting not only the AU’s documents and previous practices and precedents but also its stance a year back. The AU Peace and Security Council (PSC) didn’t call the events in Egypt a military coup but they came out and said that there was an unconstitutional change of government and they suspended Egypt. There are no legal grounds that can lead to the reinstatement of Egypt’s membership to the AU. First, the army took a very active part in the removal of the democratically elected president. Second, it is the figurehead of the coup who has won the election. This is unacceptable. As an African I am furious. I think it would be a big, big blow to the achievements of the AU and the efforts of the PSC to set precedents and norms and a political culture in the continent. It will be a setback. ●

ReSPOnSeS to last month’s question:

Is Africa selling itself short with tax holidays and other breaks?

Unfortunately, yes! It is important to promote responsible investment.

Both investor and government need to act in a responsible, transparent and objective manner.

The culture of secrecy should not be encouraged.

Sombo Chunda via Facebook Big time! It is time to revisit the policy on tax breaks.

Agula Joseph Ogoror via Facebook Multinationals come to an African country and are given 10 years of tax free status as incentives.

Ten years later they pack up and go. But they are back the next year with a different name to get another 10 years. They can do that three times. That is 30 years of tax-free breaks for multinationals who are creaming Africa of its wealth and resources.

Sindi Phiri via Facebook As a Sierra Leonean, despite the tax break, I’ve seen more investments in the country in the past five years, an increase in employment, rise in wages, more investment in the health sector and an increase in electricity supply. Though it’s not perfect [it is] better than in the previous 30 years.

Zechariah Conteh via Facebook the africa report

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briefing

10

signposts

nigeria 21/5 Some of the 100 traditional hunters who have formed vigilante groups to hunt for Boko Haram pose for photos in Maiduguri.

Kenya 9/6 The grandson of Mau Mau

fighter Dedan Kimathi Waciuri chains himself to a statue of his ancestor in Nairobi.

libya 14/6 Immigrants detained in Tripoli.

African migrants continue to stream through Libya’s porous borders on their way to southern Europe.

investment targets for growth

africa expects up from

$

56 bn

in

$

80 2014

in fDi in

bn

2013

must self assess. We are afraid to speak frankly to one another about the wrong things that we are doing ” Thabo Mbeki The former South African president has been pushing for reflection and honesty uN

AS/

EIr

gu

IL P. F

SIMON MAINA/AFP

“Africa

Kenya

War of terror

W

hen Islamist militants linked to Osama Bin Laden flew planes into the World Trade Center on 11 September 2001, their aims were clear: provoke the West to retaliate and use that brutal reaction as a recruiting tool for their cause.

Kenya is falling into the same spiral.

At least 48 people were killed in an attack by members of the Somali rebel group Al-Shabaab on the town of Mpeketoni on 16 June. The rebels butchered their victims after they failed to recite verses of the Koran. They killed another 15 people in villages around the town the next day.

Mpeketoni is a town largely inhabited by people from the Kikuyu ethnic

group, of which President Uhuru Kenyatta is a member.

Rather than build bridges with the Somali community to fight an intelligence war (as has worked more recently in the West), the Kenyatta government is burning bridges with Kenyan Somalis, who are thought to number around two million. The government has cracked down on the Somali community, with shadowy security operatives snatching suspects off the streets of Nairobi and other cities. The murder of moderate cleric Sheikh Mohammed Idris, gunned down in the port city of Mombasa on 10 June, is proof that the hardening is on both sides. ● The AfricA reporT

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brazil 14/6 Côte d’Ivoire’s Gervinho (left) and Didier Drogba celebrate after scoring against Japan in the World Cup.

south africa 15/6 At the Nelson Mandela Capture Site, a woman adds a crocheted blanket to gifts to be handed out to the needy on Nelson Mandela’s birthday, 18 July.

south africa 15/6 Economic Freedom Fighters dance after hopes were raised of an end to the five-month strike at Marikana mine.

JoE PENNEy/REutERS; toNy KARuMBA/AFP; HAzEM tuRKIA/ANADolu AGENCy; NEWSCoM/SIPA; RAJESH JANtIlAl/AFP; MuJAHID SAFoDIEN/AFP

cities follow the money, finD the people

conflict minerals the iphone karma count

Algiers

803

Tunis

Casablanca

Alexandria Cairo

Kumasi Abidjan

Lagos

Accra

Abuja

Douala

Mombasa

Nairobi

Dar es Salaam Lusaka Maputo

Durban Cape Town

800

600

400

Johannesburg

HP

Apple

Addis Ababa Kampala

smelters used

finance zimbabwe Dollar woes

29

a total of 29 firms have ceased trading on zimbabwe’s stock exchange since the formal dollarisation of the economy in february 2009, with 14 firms suspended and 15 delisted.

maternal mortality ratio africa murDerous for mothers

power green machines

only 49% of south africans think that zuma’s second term will be better than his first

the continent remains a dangerous place to give birth for many millions of women. Figures are for deaths per 100,000 live births.

Solar generating installed capacity globally will hit

374GW

?

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100-299 300-499

500-999 ≥1000

Data not available Not applicable

source: wHo 2013

In conjunction with GeoPoll, The Africa Report asked 100 South Africans, across the country, a question: “Do you expect President Zuma’s second term to be better than his first term in office?”

source: euroPeAN PHoToVoLTAIc INDusTrY Assoc.

in 2018, with Asia replacing Europe as leader.

(139GW in 2014)

the africa report

Intel

smelters not accredited

three of the largest technology firms, apple, hewlettpackard (hp) and intel, have released data revealing what proportion of the raw materials used in the manufacture of their products is processed by smelters that have been certified as conflict-free. source: ecoNoMIsT INTeLLIGeNce uNIT

Dakar

200

Lagos Johannesburg Algiers Cape Town Casablanca Alexandria Durban Abidjan Nairobi Tunis Lusaka Abuja Douala Kampala Cairo Accra Addis Ababa Mombasa Kumasi Dakar Dar es Salaam Maputo

source: sec

Some African cities have a greater concentration of wealth, measured here in terms of thousands of households earning more than $10,000 a year.

GeoPoll is a mobile surveying company that uses the mobile phone to connect with Africans and others across the developing world, using text messaging and other modes of communication.

To join the global GeoPoll network and answer short surveys like this one, please visit m.geopoll.com

11

briefing

internAtionAl 1

9

5 8 4 7

3 6

2 1

ClimAte ChAnge

160bn tn

CryoSat spacecraft estimates of the loss of ice from the Antarctic each year. Governments are scrambling to mount a response. In June, US President Barack Obama announced plans to cut power plant emissions by 30% of 2005 levels by 2030.

4

AfghAnistAn

Polls and violence

PIlAr OlIvAreS/reUTerS

Citizens voted for a new president on 14 June after leading candidate Abdullah Abdullah survived a suicide bomb attack on his convoy in Kabul on 6 June.

Abdullah, who is seen as Tajik, beat former finance minister and Pashtun favourite Ashraf Ghani in the first round of the polls in April by 13%. He hoped to win the support of the also-rans to beat Abdullah.

On the security front, both candidates declared they would sign the the Bilateral Security Agreement with the United States (US). Without the US forces, international troops are unlikely to stay in Afghanistan, and the resurgence of sectarian violence in Iraq has shown the instability that a rapid withdrawal of troops can cause. ●

2

fifA

Red carded, but not sent off

FIFA president Sepp Blatter is no less tenacious than certain African leaders.

Against mounting criticism of corruption in international football, the 78-yearold plans to run for a fifth term in office after FIFA delegates removed term limits. Britain’s The Sunday Times newspaper reported on secret deals related to the award of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar, where thousands of workers have died on construction sites and football authorities are worried about the impact of scorching heat on players. Brazil’s tournament had its own troubles linked to political donations and fraudulent billing by construction groups.

Netherlands Football Association chief Michael van Praag and English Football Association (FA) chair Greg Dyke called for Blatter to step down over his management of the crisis linked to kickbacks in the Qatar decision. Lord Triesman, a former English FA chairman, said FIFA has a “decades-long tradition of bribes, bungs and corruption” and that half of the executive committee needs to be replaced. Michael Garcia, FIFA’s ethics investigator, says that he had seen the documents in The Sunday Times reports well before they were published. He is not due to file his report on the case until July. ● 3

5

not like to think this is the start of a new Cold War. It is in no one’s interest and I think it will not happen”

ChinA

Tension with the United States increases The United States (US) defence department said in June that China’s military spending reached $145bn in 2013, which was 21% higher than the Chinese government had reported. Chinese officials complained, saying that Washington is seeking to portray China as a rising military threat. The report fed into already high tensions after the US authorities charged Chinese military officials with conducting cyber-espionage projects on strategic companies. ●

russiA

“I would

eSKInder deBeBe/Un

12

Vladimir Putin Russia’s President said he would negotiate with Ukraine’s new government and not seek to escalate the conflict. the africa report

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14

briefing | international

african angles 6

IndIA

Modi’s operandi Sworn in as India’s prime minister on 26 May, Narendra Modi is focused on reforming the economy and raising revenue. In the subregion, he wants to settle diplomatic tensions and be more assertive internationally.

China says it is keen to resolve its border dispute with India. After meeting with Modi, Pakistan’s prime minister Nawaz Sharif said he looked forward to working in harmony with the Indian government. Modi was set to visit Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan on 3-4 July, followed by the BRICS – Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – summit. ●

7

unItEd ArAb EmIrAtEs

% % 0 0 0 2 + 2013 > 2014 Since 2013, the Dubai stock exchange has been the world’s fastest-growing bourse, rising by about 200%. However, in May the International Monetary Fund advised the government to take action against a growing property bubble.

8

EuropEAn unIon

Debt crisis not over In June, the European Central Bank (ECB) launched measures to encourage bank lending and fight off deflationary pressure. The ECB set negative interest rates for bank reserves and said it would lend up to 400bn at interest rates of 0.25%. Policy-makers are worried about the health of small businesses in countries like Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece.

Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the ECB moves show that the European Union has not left its debt crisis behind. ●

9

Tolu ogunlesi

West Africa editor, The Africa Report

The scotlandengland rivalry Anthropological observations from a train, on the eve of an independence referendum

I

in a taxi in Glasgow headed ’ mto the train station, to catch a train.

The driver is a chatty Glaswegian.

Our conversation touches on rivalry between the Scottish and the English – apt at a time when the news is abuzz with ‘heated debate about the approaching independence referendum’, a euphemism for a state of escalating tribal rivalries.

“The Scottish don’t like the English,” he says. “Hell, the English don’t even like the English!”

That reminds me of a football jersey I saw in a shop window in Edinburgh years ago that carried the message: ‘I support Scotland, and everyone who plays against England.’

That age-old Scotland-England rivalry, devoid of violence though it is, is tribalism by another name.

If, to Europeans, tribalism is a concept generally associated with darkest Africa, not Europe, it has started to make a frequent appearance in media reports about the Scottish debate.

Whenever I travel through this part of Europe, I often imagine myself as an explorer in the mould of David Livingstone or Mungo Park, foreigners – Scotsmen as it happens – who earned their reputations ‘discovering’ rivers and lakes and waterfalls across Africa centuries ago.

In my 21st-century explorations, I am slowly but steadily discovering the strange tribal types of Scotland, a cold and wet stretch of endless green fields and farms that is defined more by its uneasy relationship with the proud, paternal tribes to its south than by any other thing.

Beyond the issue of the tensions among these island tribes, there is also the puzzling matter of their various cultures. On a train from the city of Aberdeen to Glasgow, I spend the entire trip studying two women seated across the aisle from me. They have spread out a feast on the table before them. The contents are mostly unfamiliar to me: the sort of tribal fare common in places like this – dubious looking, designed to be eaten cold or raw, designed to leave the African stomach unappeased, dismayed even.

What catches my eye is the bottle of wine they are enthusiastically attacking. It’s barely five o’clock in the afternoon, but that doesn’t seem to bother them. You can imagine my shock when a second bottle replaces the empty debut, and the same gusto is unleashed on it. Two roughlooking men opposite me are doing a similar thing. In this case the object of their attention is a six-pack of beer.

Later on in my wanderings across the region, I am reliably informed that it is how things are done here. Alcohol is the solvent that dissolves the stubborn knottiness of almost permanently miserable weather and a genetic constitution that requires assistance to reach a state of enthusiastic sociability.

These alcohol-guzzling habits require some curtailing, I conclude.

I think about the report I will write to my people back home in Nigeria about the strange ways of these people. The book I will someday write will be titled The Pacification of the Primitive Peoples of the North Sea. ● the africa report

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RAWBANK intends to continue its leading position in the banking sector of DRC for which it is deploying a strategy to that effect.

Thierry Taeymans Chairman of the Executive Committee RAWBANK • April 2014

This strategy is based on the following four key aspects, which directly involves the top management and departments of the bank towards a customer centric approach. ! The commercial aspect : the principal objective is to adapt to a continual change in the products and services to meet the needs of different clients in different segments via different distribution channels. ! The client relationship aspect : this aspect aims at consolidating the different competences of RAWBANK staff between the support center and the client managers to harmonize the client-bank relationship. ! The organizational aspect : this aspects aims in strengthening the internal process by adopting the industries best practices and methods. ! The institutional partnership aspect : RAWBANK is joining hands with different internationally recognized institutional partners, to position itself as the preferred banking partner in DRC, ensuring comfort and security to its customers - international as well as local.

Client

advantage We at RAWBANK strive to provide a gamut of products and an array of services, through quality, innovation & creativity and distributed through the different banking channels, thereby providing customer delight.

RAWBANK has signed new agreement with Proparco and the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management thereby adding to the existing list of agreements with the International Finance Corporation (IFC – World Bank Group), the European Investment Bank (EIB), the French Development Agency (AFD) and Proparco.

In May 2014, the IFC renews its trust in RAWBANK by making available a new credit of USD 15 million intended for the financing of the SME sector in DRC. Registered Office 3487, Bld du 30 Juin (Gombe) • KINSHASA +243 81 98 32 000

www.rawbank.cd

country focus

Democratic Republic of Congo

Gwenn DuBourthoumieu/afp

Where there’s a will there’s a way: Kabila considers his options

stay

Will he or will he go?

Electoral and constitutional changes proposed in June suggest that President Joseph Kabila will attempt to stay beyond the end of his last term in 2016. Political uncertainty has slowed peace negotiations, the national dialogue and improving the economy outside the mining sector

By Gregory Mthembu-Salter in Kinshasa

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N

“

othing is moving”, saysaKinshasa-based businessman as he shakes his head. “To move this project forward, I need the go-ahead from the minister. But no one is signing anything. For months now, they have been sitting on their hands,” he explains.

Ever since President Joseph Kabila announced in October 2013 that he would bring in a new government, the current administration – headed by Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo – began grinding to a halt. The political class

45

46

country focus | democratic republic of congo

imProveD sanitation facilities (% of population with access)

31%

was awaiting a decision on the new governing team.

Months later, the wait continues, and the list of unfinished business grows ever longer. The government and the mainly Tutsi rebels in the Mouvement du 23 Mars signed a peace deal in December 2013, but that has not resolved the question of instability in the east (see page 58). The Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Rwanda, made up of Hutus that conducted the Rwandan genocide in 1994, said that the group’s fighters would surrender in May. Diplomats have been dissatisfied with the follow-up on that promise, and the United Nations peacekeepers and national armed forces have threatened new offensives. Problems related to demobilisation, reintegration and amnesties have derailed previous peace efforts in the east.

A revision of the 2002 mining code, which has been hotly debated by the government and mining companies for months, is still unfinished. There is no clear timetable about when it might be completed. A law about investment in the oil sector has also not been finalised.

The government has not delivered on its promise to draft new legislation on insurance either. A bill intended to encourage private investment in the energy sector sits unsigned on the president’s desk.

aGriculture, value aDDeD (% of GDP)

45%

vexed question

SOUTH SUDAN

CAR CAM. Kisangani GABON CONGO

Goma

KINSHASA

Atlantic Ocean

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

UGANDA RWANDA BURUNDI TANZANIA

Lubumbashi

ANGOLA 400 km

ZAMBIA

drc in numbers PoPulation

65.71 million

life exPectancy

50

infant mortality (per 1,000 live births) GDP (current US$)

100

$17.20bn

GDP Growth (annual %)

7.2%

Source: WorlD BaNk 2012

inflation

1.6% (2013)

total reserves) (includes gold, current US$)

$1.6bn

fDi (current US$)

$2.9bn

fiscal deficit Domestic conflict Plunging commodity prices

Fiscal deficit (% of GDP) 25

Source: IuNDP

15 0.5

-0.5

2012

2013

2014

2015

growth/inflation 700

Inflation, annual average (% left-hand scale)

Real GDP growth (% righthand scale)

600

4

400

2

300

0

Real GDP growth and inflation (1996-2012)

200 Source: IMF

8 6

500

-2 -4

100 0

10

-6 1996 98

00

02

04

06

08

10

-8

two-term limit. Information minister Lambert Mende has insisted that President Kabila will not stay in power beyond 2016 and will not do anything to violate the constitution. His statements have done little to resolve the debate about the succession.

In the country’s post-independence history, a head of state has never voluntarily left power. There is a lot of uncertainty about what would happen if Kabila decides to step down in 2016. The country’s civil war officially ended in July 2003, but the central government has not followed through on the holding of regular elections or sharing funds with provincial authorities, as mandated by the constitution. Kabila’s party, the Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la

In the absence of official information, a plethora of rumours and theories have been circulating in the capital. Prime Minister Matata Ponyo will keep his job or he will be dropped. National Assembly president Aubin Minaku will replace Matata or Senate president Léon Kengo Wa Dondo will. Or maybe it will be someone else entirely.

There is a rough conIn DRC’s post-independence sensus, though, that whohistory a head of state has ever heads the new government will somehow have to never voluntarily left power manage the vexed question of 2016. Kabila’s second and final term Démocratie (PPRD), has not openly dein office expires in two years, after which bated the succession and the National the constitution requires elections and Assembly is fragmented and includes many independent candidates and small a new president.

The United States government made a personality-based political parties. strong call for Kabila to respect the conSince the end of the national politstitution. Secretary of State John Kerry ical consultations that Kabila organvisited Kinshasa in May and called on ised in September and October 2013, Kabila to abide by and not alter the conopposition alliances have been shiftstitution. Adding to the pressure, the ing. There are now three main opposiEuropean Union has backed Kerry’s call. tion groupings. Longtime oppositionist Congolese public opinion appears firmly Étienne Tshisekedi, who scored 32% at infavourofmaintainingtheconstitution’s the contested 2011 presidential elections, the africa report

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country focus

Baudouin Mouanda for Ja

The new laws would target elections from the local to the presidential level.

There may be a way to amend the laws without changing the constitution. Insiders suggest the plan hatched by Kabila and his allies is to amend the electoral law, changing the way the president is elected from universal suffrage to an election by delegates to the National Assembly. In this way, they argue, the president could serve another term without removing constitutional term limits. In addition, they would amend the rules so that local councillors rather than voters elect provincial deputies.

leads one constellation. Senate president Kengo Wa Dondo and former National Assembly president Vital Kamerhe represent the other two. Members of the opposition have formed umbrella groups, such as the Forces Acquises au Changement and the Front pour des Elections Crédibles, but so far none of them have been able to unite Kabila’s principal critics. Tshisekedi and Kamerhe both lambasted the national dialogue held last year and said the government was not interested in real dialogue.

Amidst the political uncertainty related to 2016, will the army stay loyal? Will the civil service keep functioning? What will happen in the provinces, and particularly in Katanga, where new rebel groups have become active over the past few years, and what about the east? Would a new

Construction and business projects have ground to a halt because of ministerial phlegm

president leave Kabila and his riches alone or arrest him? Would the country’s interfering neighbours stay out of the issue or get involved?

To add to all the unanswered questions about Kabila’s departure, there are many others about how he could justify staying on, particularly since changing the constitution has become problematic. Kabila had sought to use the national dialogue to gather support for another term in office, but in this he was unsuccessful.

On 9 June government spokesman Lambert Mende announced the government’s decision to propose new electoral laws and revisions to the constitution.

buying time for kabila

Opposition parties are likely to claim that the proposed amendments are substantial enough to require changes to the constitution, but the newly created Cour Constitutionnelle has come to Kabila’s rescue in the past and can probably be relied on to do so again. A possible compromise, particularly if donors voice their opposition to such plans, would be to put the proposed changes to the electoral law to a referendum. Donors will no doubt refuse to pay, and months could slip by. Since the main motivation behind the plan is to buy Kabila time, all delays would be welcome.

Holding a national census could be another reason for delay. There has not been a census in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in decades. The resulting dearth of up-to-date information hampers development work, so donors might be tempted to pay for one.

Conducting a census is bound to be a lengthy, difficult and expensive process.

The government is likely to insist that it must be completed before another general election can be organised. ● ● ●

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47

JUNIOR D.KANNAH/Afp

48

The next part of the plan is to hold local elections, which have not happened since the end of the civil war.

AfterannouncinginJanuarythatthepolls would be held this year, the electoral authorities announced in late May that they would take place between 14 June and 15 October 2015. Like the census, local elections are set to be slow, pricey and fraught with difficulty. The opposition group Sauvons la République Démocratique du Congo called the election timeline “a provocation” and said that a census covering more than 2.3m square kilometres and an estimated 76 million people will take an unknown period of time to complete. A census and a potential referendum on changes to electoral law could easily take the DRC past the 2016 constitutional deadline. ●●●

economy surges ahead

The final part of the plan could be the trickiest – namely the claim that with a new electoral law in place, Kabila would be entitled to two further terms as president. Opposition parties and Western donors are sure to oppose such an argument. Whether donors would be prepared to attempt to prevent it from happening is another question entirely, particularlywithCentralAfricanRepublic and South Sudan in such turmoil already.

For all the political torpor, the DRC’s economy continues to surge ahead. Real gross domestic growth was measured at 8.2% in 2013 and could rise to 9.4%, one of the highest rates in the world, in 2014.

Most of this growth is due to rising mining production. According to official statist-

ics, copper output rose from 620,000tn in 2012 to 957,000tn in 2013, a year-onyear increase of 54% and a near-record level of production.

The rise is the result of several years of investment in Katangan copper mines by international operators. It would have been higher still if the companies had access to sufficient electrical power (see page 54). There is a growing energy deficit, particularly in the mining sector, with companies often resorting to expensive diesel-fuelled generators to keep their machines running.

Delegates in the National Assembly may be the only ones with a vote in the next election

Outside the mining sector, there is continued growth in telecoms. In midMay, South Africa’s Vodacom Group announced that the International Chamber of Commerce had ruled in its favour in a long-running dispute with its minority partner in the DRC. Company officials said the ruling means that it would now “significantly increase” its $100m annual capital expenditure in the country, where it has 10 million subscribers.

Bandundu Bas-Congo Equateur Kasaï Occ.

Access rate by province (%)

Kasaï Or. Katanga Kinshasa Maniema Nord-Kivu Province Or. Sud-Kivu

SOURCE: MRHE

0

10

20

Urban areas (2011)

Access to electricity

30

40

50

Rural areas (2010)

35%

1%

SOURCE: WATER AND ELECTRICITY MINISTRY

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In other sectors, though, many companies report that economic growth is anaemic and complain that consumer purchasingpowerremainsweak.Reliable statistics are hard to come by, particularly in the agricultural sector, where activity remains almost entirely absent from official data. The government is launching a series of agricultural projects to raise production, fight food insecurity and provide jobs (see page 62). investor caution

Investors, too, have been wary. In late 2012, for example, no suitable companies bidforacontracttomanagebustransport in Kinshasa. The government says that the recent peace deals in eastern DRC will allow foreign investors to return, but most prefer to wait and see. A law about local ownership could deter them from investing in the agricultural drive.

Industry analysts say the construction sector has weakened, with a number of private sector projects on hold. The end to a series of disputes with Chinese in-

Mining and telecoms drive the country’s growth, while other sectors face apathy vestors and financial institutions means that the infrastructure and mining sectors will receive a boost (see page 60).

The country’s small oil sector, meanwhile, continues to produce more controversy than barrels per day (bpd). Daily oil production remains at just 22,000bpd from a small number of Atlantic offshore wells.TalksbetweentheDRCandAngola, which occupies a number of lucrative offshore blocks that are claimed by the Congolese government, have not led to any progress (TAR 61, June 2014). There is little activity on the Lake Albert oil blocks held by Foxwhelp and Caprikat, twoBritishVirginIslands-registeredcompanies linked to Israeli mining mogul Dan Gertler, who has a close relationship with President Kabila.

In April, London-listed Soco International launched a seismic survey of Lake Edward in the UNESCO World-Heritage listed Parc National des Virunga. Following the release of a documentary that appeared to show bribery and payments to rebels, Soco said it would not continue work in the park. Comments by its deputy CEO in The Times, however, suggestedthecompanyistryingtoredraw the boundaries of the protected site. ● the africa report

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Avenue Moswaya, 6 / Ma Campagne Commune de Ngaliema, Kinshasa R. D. Congo - Tel.: +243 815681354 Email: lomakrdc@yahoo.com www.lomakrdc.com LOMAK sarl Eric Okuka Chief Executive Officer

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country focus | democratic republic of congo

mining More digging, more problems

State-owned Gécamines is continuing its restructuring plans but it has not shown a commitment to transparency or an ability to raise funds

T

he Générale des Carrières et des Mines (Gécamines) is one of the country’s most important stateowned companies and controls many of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s most valuable mining assets. Albert Yuma, chairman of the Gécamines board, is close to President Joseph Kabila and this relationship provides Yuma with invaluable protection, especially when he was under attack from Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo and the International Monetary Fund for selling Gécamines assets to companies linked to Israeli magnate Dan Gertler at apparently bargain-basement prices over the past few years.

At the Cape Town Mining Indaba in February, Yuma proudly announced to delegates that Gécamines had “at least” 10m tonnes of copper reserves and that the company’s debts had come down from $1.5bn to $1bn. Yuma said he was particularly excited about having purchased the minority shareholding in the Deziwa and Ecaille C copper and cobalt mines in Katanga, which Yuma said would be Gécamines’ flagship mines.

He said they could produce 200,000tn of copper per year, but only once they benefit from up to $2bn in new investment. Independent estimates say the mines hold 4.85m tonnes of copper and 402,000tn of cobalt reserves.

Fleurette later reported that Gécamines This has has been a major factor in the used its minority stakes in the Kamoto past, encouraging Gécamines to sell off valuable assets at a discount so long as Copper Company (KCC) and ENRC’s Metalkol copper tailings project as colthere was a substantial signature bonus lateral for the loan. attached to the deals.

The stakes are reckoned by most analysts to be worth far more than the value gecamines backs off sale In 2013, the Gécamines management of the loan, but in May Bloomberg reported that African Dawn had relinquished was taken aback by the level of opits rights to the collateral because most position from Congolese civil society of the loan had been paid, according groups and the prime minister to its to Fleurette. proposed selling of The revelations its stake in KCC, and Gécamines 460,000 company backed about the Fleurette annual copper the loan have raised conaway from the sale production cerns about whether in June of this year. (million tonnes) Gécamines has any Yuma now says that other off-sheet loans Gécamines prefers 100,000 and has called into to raise new funds (predicted) question the reliabinstead of selling as40,000 ility of Yuma’s claim sets, but it estimates that the company’s its funding require1986 2013 2016 debt was dropping. ments at $2.7bn.

This will make it even The KCC experiharder for Gécamines to persuade scepence is likely to make Yuma warier about tical international investors to contribute attempting similar sales in the buildfunds to develop Ecaille C and Deziwa. up to 2016. However, if the pressure on him from his political masters to deliver As 2016 – the date when presidential elections are due to be held – draws them signature bonus cash becomes too nearer, precedent suggests that the politintense, Yuma could find it hard to resical elite in Kinshasa will be turning ist, no matter how great the uproar. ● Gregory Mthembu-Salter in Kinshasa to Gécamines for campaign funding.

SOURCE: GECAMINES

redundancies

Yuma added that Gécamines was committed to becoming a leaner operation as part of its 2012-2016 restructuring plan. He promised to cut the labour force by up to 5,000 people, which he said would cost the company $160m in redundancy payments.

YumawascoyaboutwhereGécamines had found the money to buy the stake in Deziwa and Ecaille C. Since the Indaba, however, it has emerged that Gertler’s Fleurette Group lent Gécamines $196m to take over the mines via a company called African Dawn Finance, which is registered in the Cayman Islands.

GWENN DUBOURTHOUMIEU

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No smoke without fire: Gécamines is shrounded in complex and murky deals the africa report

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In March 2014 during woman month, Patricia launched in partnership with the World Bank, UNFPA and DRC ministry of gender, the first women Leadership forum in DRC named “Superwomen Leadership Forum”.

country focus

Harnessing the river: Inga II with Inga I behind. Inga III will add a further 4,800MW capacity

export 2,500MW to South Africa, while directing 1,300MW to the mining industry in Katanga Province and providing 1,000MW for the rest of the country.

In order to do that, the consultants say that the production capacity must be 5,500-6,000MW to take into account that production levels are typically 15% less than the installed capacity and that about 10% is lost through the transmission process.

The dam’s financing is far from resolved, too. Unusually, the World Bank said that its commitment to fund studies did not mean that it would participate in the dam’s construction. The World Bank is looking to maintain a leadership role in the project because Inga could be one of the most profitable hydroelectric projects in the world – with generation costs estimated at $0.03/kWh – and the African governors in the Bretton Woods institution asked it to support the project.

However,non-governmentalorganisaWith the legal framework, tenders, impact studies tions have been pressuring the United and financing still to be finalised, construction States(US)government,thelargestshareof the dam is unlikely to start before the end of 2016 holder in the World Bank Group, not to participate in large dam projects. In Januother companies to submit their bids ary 2014, the US Congress approved an espite the desire of President last October. act that instructs government agencies Joseph Kabila and water reto oppose the financing of major hydrosources minister Bruno Kapandji Before the initial work begins, consultelectric projects through international Kalala to launch the construction of the ants have to complete environmental huge Inga III Dam in October 2015, nufinancial institutions. and social impact assessments for the project, which received finance of $33.4m merous obstacles mean that the date Inga III is a complex project that infrom the African Development Bank last is set to be pushed back. In March, the volves many actors, so further setbacks year. Several technical World Bank’s country director for the are possible. Nonethedecisions have not yet Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), less, it is still attracting been taken, including Eustache Ouayoro, announced that the interest from across the exact location of first stone would not be laid until “near the continent. The Nithe dam, the depth of the end of 2016”. The World Bank apgerian government The World Bank estimates itsfoundations,theconproved a $73.1m grant for technical asmight be interested that DRC has the potential to generate around structionmaterialstobe sistance for Inga III on 20 March. in electricity imports, Before construction work begins, the usedandtheitineraryof said power minisgovernment will establish the Agence the transmission lines. ter Chinedu Nebo in March.

Kapandji is also pour le Développement et la Promotion The lines are set to deof hydroelectric power trying to get the memd’Inga (ADEPI), which will be responsliver electricity to South ible for the management of the project Africa,eitherviaZambia bers of the Southern and Zimbabwe or via and the mobilisation of finance, estimAfrican Power Pool on Kinshasa’s side. “South Zambia and Botswana. ated at $14bn by the World Bank. The Africa is also interested World Bank is working on a special law in the phases that folfor the Inga project that the DRC parliacapacity issues ment will approve. ADEPI will also be The parties involved are low,” Médard Kitakani, communicationsdirectorfortheDRC’sSoalso discussing the size of the dam. The responsible for negotiating electricity ciété National d’Electricité, told The Africa consultants at South Africa’s Trans-Africa sales contracts.

Report. The country could import 15% of Projects estimate that the announced The government says it pre-selected Grand Inga’s total generation capacity of capacity for Inga III – 4,800MW – will be three consortiums for the work in June 39,000MW, according to Kitakani. ● and July of 2013, but another group could too low to meet the government’s proFrançois Misser in Kinshasa play a spoiler’s role as Kapandji invited posed commitments. The DRC plans to

power

Inga III will have to wait

Jean-Luc DoLmaire/Ja

54

D

100GW

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country focus | democratic republic of congo

PeoPle to WatcH

Plotters, planners and peacemakers Questions remain about the amnesty and peace agreements in the east, but the political scene in the capital is focused on upcoming polls

Nations, may soon face challenges as senior vice-president for external relations at Tenke Fungurume. The Katangabased mining company is part of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, but in May a dozen associations accused the government of neglecting to monitorinvestmentsinthesector,including at the Tenke Fungurume operations.

E

1

Vincent Fournier/JA

addis ababa agreement

2

BAudouin MouAndA For JA

lectionswilldominatethepolitical agenda over the next two years.

Critics say that President Joseph Kabila is manoeuvring to stay beyond the end of his last mandate in 2016. Election officials announced in late May that local elections scheduled for the end of the year will finally be organised in 2015 between 14 June and 15 October.

The Commission Electorale Nationale Indépendante (CENI) says that holding presidential elections in 2016 is “imperative”. CENI’s president,FatherApollinaire Malu Malu, explains: “CENI will never be part of the group of people wanting to go beyond 2016.”

Still, several opposition leaders accuse Malu Malu of plotting to allow Kabila to remain in power. One of the most vocal critics is Vital Kamerhe (1). He was president of the National Assembly and helped Kabila win 2006 elections before creating his opposition party, the Union pour la Nation Congolaise, and running for president in 2011.

As the debate goes on, there have been suggestionsthatPrimeMinisterAugustin Matata Ponyo, who has gained the support of the country’s donors, will not lead the government of national unity promised last October after national consultations. A source close to the presidency says National Assembly president Aubin Minaku could be nominated. Others bet on Senate president Léon Kengo wa Dondo, who was fourth in the 2011 presidential election, and Daniel Mukoko Samba, the deputy prime minister and budget minister.

There has not been much political debate, on the other hand, since Parti Travailliste Congolais member of parliament Steve Mbikayi tabled a bill aiming at criminalising same-sex relationships late last year. The bill does not appear on the agenda of this parliamentary session.

In the mining sector, André Kapanga, former ambassador to the United

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Bruno LéVy For JA

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For a lasting peace in the east, mediators are calling for the full implementation of the February 2013 Addis Ababa agreement signed by 11 African countries. The DRC government promised to implement political, social and security reforms, while the other countries pledged not to support rebel groups.

François Muamba (2), the former secretary general of the Mouvement de Libération du Congo opposition party, is president of the Congolese government board charged with monitoring progress.

The board’s operations have been slowed by poor organisation and a lack of funds.

The parties signed the agreement after the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) rebels took Goma, the capital of Nord-Kivu.

Government forces and an African intervention force defeated the rebellion at the endof2013.InFebruary,Kabilasignedan amnesty law that does not concern war crimes and crimes against humanity. In May,M23announcedthatitscombatants andpoliticalleadersinUganda–including politicalpresidentBertrandBisimwaand former military chief Sultani Makenga – had applied for amnesty.

On the cultural scene, singer Lokua Kanza (3) celebrated his 20year solo carrier in Kinshasa with Fally Ipupa, Jean Goubald, Olivier Tshimanga, Richard Bona and Sara Tavares. Kanza’s main message was peace for the people of Africa and elsewhere. As the son of a Congolese father and a Rwandan mother, he stressed the importance for the two countries to improve their relations.

Fashion stylistMeniMbughawill show his creations from 11 to 31 July in Kinshasa. His clothes have black and red symbols inspired by the art of pygmies living in north-eastern DRC. Mbugha’s ultimategoalistoopenaworkshopwhere pygmies could paint fabric to improve their livelihoods. ● Habibou Bangré in Kinshasa

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“ The Gift of God ”

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ama Safi - just like her mother before her and thousands of other villagers across

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country focus | democratic republic of congo

diplomacy

Peace accords, but the puzzle still perplexes Despite the peace deals signed in Addis Ababa and Nairobi, problems related to Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda remain unresolved

A

series of largely unconnected regional political challenges has created stumbling blocks for the government in Kinshasa and the region’s diplomats. Conflict with Uganda revolves aroundthepresenceofAllianceofDemocratic Forces-National Army for the Liberation of Uganda (ADF-NALU) rebels in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and amnesty discussions for the Mouvement du 23 Mars (M23) rebels in Uganda. The government’s relations with Rwanda depend on the status of the eastern-Congo-based Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda (FDLR) and the issue of refugee return. Meanwhile, the UnitedNations(UN)hasreportedthatthe ruling party in Burundi has sent its youth militia to Congo’s Sud-Kivu Province for training, raising tensions ahead of Burundi’s elections in 2015.

Five months have passed since the Congolese government and the defeated M23 rebelgroupsignedtheNairobi accord to put an official end to the eastern DRC’s most recent wave of armed insurrection.

As part of the international peace efforts in the Addis Ababa Peace, Security and CooperationFramework,thisaccordtries to resolve other issues with cross-border relevance, such as refugee return. amnesty headaches

The fateof M23 is an essential element for any normalisation of relations between the DRC and Rwanda. However, the Nairobi deal did not address all critical regional issues. The government’s first wave of amnesties included a couple of M23 political cadres. But the majority of

Kenny Katombe/reuters

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its forces, including political and military heads Bertrand Bisimwa and Sultani Makenga, continue to live in exile in Uganda, with others in Rwanda. There are no indications about when and how theirfutureswillbemadeclear.Moreover, there has been little meaningful progress in the repatriation of Congolese refugees, contrary to what is stipulated in the Nairobi deal.

Against the backdrop of security challenges, the Congolese government and its partners in the UN peacekeeping mission’s Force Intervention Brigade have focused their recent activities on

The DRC has launched a $170m disarmament strategy aiming to disband 54 militias over 5 years

combating other armed groups, including ADF-NALU, an Islamist rebel group operating from strongholds around the town of Beni. While these operations appear to have been fairly successful so far, there has not been serious action against the FDLR, who are remnants of the Interahamwe groups that carried out the Rwandan genocide 20 years ago.

The FDLR leadership made a diplomatic gamble by announcing the voluntary demobilisation of its ‘Nord-Kivu brigade’ in late May. However, the leadership followed up halfheartedly, lead-

The surrender of 105 FDLR rebels in Kateku was considered insignificant by the UN

ing to the surrender of 105 rank-and-file combatants with mostly old weapons to the UN in Kateku. A declaration from the UN and regional envoys described the move as insignificant. kigali drags its feet

While Kigali rejects negotiations with the FDLR, Congolese stakeholders seem divided about whether to push Kigali or to use military means. In this light, the joint Congolese and UN operations against the Alliance des Patriotes pour un Congo Libre et Souverain, a militia based in Masisi, raise important questions about the government’s priorities in eradicating armed groups, as the current UNSecurityCouncilresolutiondemands.

The FDLR has massive historical, diplomatic and political relevance to regional stability and is an impediment to the new national disarmament process.

UN reports say that Burundi’s ruling Conseil National pour la Défense de la Démocratie-Forces de Défense de la Démocratie has sent its Imbonerakure youth militia for military training in the Ruzizi plains in Sud-Kivu. Though the claims lack independent verification, there is a danger that parts of Sud-Kivu could become embroiled in politicomilitary struggles around the Burundian presidential elections in 2015. The role of President Pierre Nkurunziza is key to regional security due to the historical alliance between Congolese and Burundian armed movements. ● Josaphat Musamba Bussy and Christoph Vogel in Goma

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country focus | democratic republic of congo

china/DRc Sicomines deal back on track

that was to secure generous fiscaladvantagesforSicomineshadnotbeenapproved by the Congolese parliament. As the bank pulled out, the Chinese parties had to reimburse the approximately $1bn that the bankhadalreadydisbursed towards the infrastructure and mining projects.

After pulling out in 2012, China Exim Bank has revived its financing deal for mining and infrastructure projects

T

heDemocraticRepublicofCongo’s (DRC) ‘China deal’ – using the profits from a copper and cobalt mine to finance infrastructure and mining investment – is central to President Joseph Kabila’s development plans. In 2013, officials announced that progress was not being made because of a conflict over the financing structure, but the multibillion-dollar deal with China Exim Bank has now been reinstated.

Implementation of the infrastructure projects will continue after two years of standstill. A well-placed Chinese source who requested anonymity says that preparatory work on the mining site started in April 2013, and the government has confirmed that the mine will begin production by the end of 2015. mine to reimburse credit

First signed in 2007, the deal brings in a credit line on commercial terms to finance a mining project and infrastructure projects, mostly comprising roads in Kinshasa. The credit line is due to be reimbursed with profits from the mine that is operated by a Sino-Congolese joint venture named Sicomines. It includes the Chinese state-owned enterprises China Railway Engineering Corporation and Sinohydro and the private company Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt. The Congolese parastatals Gécamines and the Société Immobilière du Congo hold a 32% stake.

The Sicomines agreement has been troubled since its early days. Civil society

Sicomines mining project

Copper reserves 6.8m tonnes

*before operating costs, taxes and loan reimbursements SOURCE: BCPSC/THE LONDON METAL EXCHANGE

Value* ay) M (as of 28 $47.3bn

surprising rifts

For many Western observers, this was a revelation. Few analysts thought that there could be such disagreement between Chinese corporate actors.

The idea of a monolithic China following a coordinated plan for its overseas ventures remains deeply embedded in the view of the Western media.

The pullout was not the end of the road, however.

In March 2013 when the events were reported, the Congolese workers parties had already been groups criticised the circle look lively for a visit back at the negotiating around President Joseph by their future table for several months.

Kabila for non-transparent paymasters, Ekanga has confirmed management of the agreethe China Railway to The Africa Report that Engineering Corp ment, and it was revised China Exim Bank “has resumed the financing since in 2009 following concerns lastyearfortheminingprojectand[since] from the International Monetary Fund this year for the infrastructure projects”.

(IMF) that it burdened the DRC with According to Ekanga, the bank went unsustainable debt. To satisfy the IMF’s back to the negotiating table in late 2012 demands, the amount of infrastructure because of the competition offered from financing was capped at $3bn and the China Development Bank and the Bank sovereign guarantee that had covered of China, which had started negotiations the mining loan was removed. The inwith the Chinese parties to the Sicomfrastructure projects remain covered by ines deal. In policy circles there has been the sovereign guarantee, however. widespread concern that Chinese loans In 2013, Moïse Ekanga of the Bureau de Coordination et du Suivi du Programme may cause a new cycle of indebtedness for African countries. However, the prinSino-Congolais (BCPSC) revealed that cipal goal for China’s banks is to ensure there were problems related to the deal. commercialviabilityand,likemostbanks, China Exim Bank had pulled out as the they will only disburse loans if they have financier in early 2012 after some of its firm guarantees for reimbursement. demands had not been met. Namely, The bank has not explained why it dethe bank insisted on taking over the cided to return. However, the adoption Congolese side’s 32% share and mortby the Congolese parliament in February gaging the Chinese parties’ 68% stake 2014 of the law safeguarding the tax exuntil reimbursement was completed. emptions provided to Sicomines is likely The bank also considered the 25-year to be one of the reasons for this. ● reimbursement period too long and Johanna Jansson found it problematic that the law Katrina Manson/reuters

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STEERING COMMITTEE FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF BUSINESS AND INVESTMENTS CLIMATE IN DRC

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country focus

The government plans to turn the DRC into a land of plenty

YannicK TYlle/corbis

agriculture

Farming zones to fight rising imports The main policy of the government’s agricultural plan is the creation of 20 agro-industrial parks, but Kinshasa may have trouble attracting foreign investors

T

The pilot zone covers 75,000ha at his is a crucial year for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Bukanga-Lonzo in Bandundu Province. ambitious plans to combat food It is due to begin production in 2014 and insecurity with the creation of 20 special involves South African fertiliser company agricultural zones. The zones, which will Triomf,andSuidwes,whichisspecialised be piloted in 2014 and eventually cover in equipment, finance and agricultural consultancy. The agricultural zones will 1m hectares, are the centrepiece of the government’s Plan National d’Investissehave three components: commercial ment Agricole 2013-2020. Agriculture farms with an average size of 1,000ha, minister Jean Chrysostome Vahamwiti support for smallholders working near says the goal is to “favour import substithe sites and the creation of agricultural tution in the field of food production.” cooperatives. SOPAGRI is due to deliver The plan has a proposed budget of $6bn, services and set up processing plants. with two-thirds of the funds due to come South African soil specialists who from the private sector. In June 2013, the started soil testing in February said that government said it and its partners had the land was not easy to work on and already provided $2.5bn for the plan. the topography posed problems. The Vahamwiti says the government plans programme will adfor the site to house dress the weaknesses Price of a basket ❒ 1kg of rice, 24m chickens and ❒ 1kg of beans, of goods of the current system. produce 300,000tn ❒ 1kg of salty October 2012 These include the absence of cassava per year fish, of integrated networks that at full capacity. ❒ 1kg of beef link farmers to consumers, Ghana weak basic infrastructure investors want $15.30 more and limited agricultural Congo B. One of the challenges services. In addition, $17.60 to attracting foreign agricultural industries Côte d’Ivoire tend to be concentrated investmentisthelegal $15.80 around Kinshasa. framework, which inDR Congo cludes a law that enConsultants at South $29.70 Africa’sMozFood&Energy sures a majority share have identified the sites for for local companies the proposed agro-industrial in agricultural conparksandcreatedabusinessplan cessions. According for each of them. The Société de to Vahamwiti, “the Parcs Agro-Industriels (SOPAGRI) government is thinkwill manage them using a publicingaboutreducingthe minimum participaprivate-partnership model.

SOURCE: MEENA FINANCE (2013)

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tion in agricultural projects so that this question does not become an obstacle.”

The DRC is increasingly dependent on imports after “a drastic drop in per-capita agricultural production”, Vahamwiti says. According to the government’s estimates, agricultural imports will reach $1.5bn this year. Food imports grew more than five-fold from 2001 to 2010.

The government estimates that a basket of imported goods costs nearly twice as much in the DRC as it does in Ghana.

This trend of a drop in production and rising imports has accompanied a degradation in nutritional outcomes.

The number of undernourished people in the DRC increased from 11.4 million in 1990 to 43.9 million in 2006. The displacement due to conflict, the system of subsistence production – which has low productivity, low levels of input use and rudimentary technology – and the reluctance of banks to lend have all contributed to the low levels of food security.

Agriculture has not been a high priority for the government, either. In 2013, spending on agriculture represented only 1.75% of the national budget. However, the government is now setting the scene for change. It says it will follow Nigeria and Ethiopia’s example and create the Agence Congolaise de Transformation Agricole to foster cooperation on projects across the many ministries that operate on the sector.

John Ulimwengu, the prime minister’s special adviser on agriculture, explains that production at the parks will only rise gradually as each element of the value chain is addressed. He says that the proposed investment in the parks will lead a 2.5% rise in average maize yields per hectare. ● François Misser in Kinshasa

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country focus | democratic republic of congo

A pioneer in retail banking, Rawbank was one of the first in the DRC to issue credit cards

Baudouin Mouanda for Ja

64

Finance

Rawbank continues to grow despite weak markets The potential of the DRC banking sector is limited, but Rawbank is still seeking to innovate and capture a larger share of the national customer base

O

perating in a difficult business environment, Rawbank has gone from a newcomer about a decade ago to the market leader today, controlling more than 20% of the market.

The challenges for banking in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are immense. The World Bank estimates that there are fewer than a million formal bank accounts for a population of around 70 million, which means banking penetration is lower than 2%. The sub-Saharan Africa average is 25%.

Rawbank appeared in The Africa Report’s list of Africa’s top 200 banks in 2012, just a decade after the bank’s launch. A subsidiary of the Indian group Rawji, the bank started with a few dozen employees and now boasts more than 500. The youngest of the DRC’s financial institutions, Rawbank now has 36 branches across the country.

Part of its success has been achieved through deploying the latest technology to keep costs down. The huge distances and dispersed population have meant that traditional banking has high administrative costs. The country’s older banksdolittleoutsidethecountry’surban

centres. In 2012, Rawbank partnered with computing company IBM to allow customers to access their accounts on their mobile phones via text messages.

Rawbank is seeking out Congolese peoplewhodonothaveaccesstobanking services, with accounts aimed at young people, loans for small companies and preferential credit for women business owners. Its Lady’s First programme has loaned more than $3m to Congolese women and their businesses.

To boost its reach among small companies, Rawbank received a $15m loan from the International Finance Corporation on 8 May. “This will strengthen our leadingpositioninDRC’sfinancialsystem and enable us to reach more small and medium-sized enterprises, which are the backbone of the emerging economy in DRC,” Rawbank chief executive Thierry Taeymans told reporters.

of its clientele. Among its strategies to target young people, the bank has created the Academia account, which makes up around 10% of deposits. It was among the first Congolese banks to issue credit cards, as well as to allow customers access to accounts on an online platform.

But while retail accounts and small consumer loans are growing, the corporate market is still small. Larger companies often prefer to rely on foreign banks or to receive finance from parent companies, especially for large loans that Congolese banks are unable to extend.

New economic activity – agribusiness in Equateur and Bandundu, and mining in Katanga and Orientale provinces – is helping to create new business. The decision to join the Organisation pour l’Harmonisation en Afrique du Droit des Affaires, a regionally harmonised business law framework, has brought greater securitytoinvestorsandhelpedtosolidify the arbitration processes.

Tofindnewcustomers,Rawbankhasto look elsewhere for growth. The decision of the Congolese authorities in April 2013 to pay government salaries into bank accounts may be one possible avenue. But there is a finite number of retail customers left, argues Michel Notebaert, deputy chairman of Rawbank: “The banks that have recently arrived in the DRC thought that – because of the low level of bank penetration–theCongolesemarketcould be rapidly developed. Their model does not correspond to reality. The growth in accounts is not exponential.”

Thepublic,mostofwhomremainpoor, are still wary of banks. The various bank collapses of the 1990s led many families to lose their savings. ● Muriel Devey and Nicholas Norbrook

innovations aplenty

To keep its place as market leader, Rawbank has tried to keep close to its customers and to innovate with new products. The bank was a pioneer in retail banking, which represents 60%

branches nationwide

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democratic republic of congo | country focus

profile

name. “To escape this stupidity, I left this place,” he says. The chosen destinationwasobvious:Kinshasa.

Heworkedintheadvertisingsector and, in 1991, founded Les Publications de l’Exocet, a publishing house mainly dedicated to comic books and political satire. “[They] sold like hot cakes, until the day I published Dernier Sandruma na Kinshasa, an account of the 1991 looting. The army started arresting vendors, but none of them denounced me,” recalls Bofane.

Having sent his children to Belgium, Bofane took up arms to defend his quarter of Kinshasa in the 1993 looting with a Ninja batallion possessing a single Belgian assault rifle. On arriving in Belgium as an undocumented migrant, he worked odd jobs: construction worker, bouncer in a nightclub and in the voluntary sector. After achieving his first literary success with a children’s story in 1996, he published his first novel, Mathématiques Congolaises, in 2008.

His aim was to “give the Congolese people back their dignity” by denouncing “oppressive systems”.

In Koli Jean Bofane Author

Witches’ brew

The Congolese author has wielded both gun and pen in his eventful life. in his latest novel he draws the DrC’s excesses into a heady concoction of humour and horror

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The horror, as Kurtz from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness put it, began quite early for Bofane.

“In 1960, we lost everything and almost got killed,” he explains.

A quick escape to Belgium was the beginning of several return trips. In 1974, at 20 years old, he began studying for a degree in communications in Paris. Evasively, he also hints at “a tumultous life, gun in hand”. At some point he was “incarcerated” somewhere in Europe under a false

“you are next!”

pAuline beugnies/Out OF FOcus FOr JA

T

he forest is at the heart of In Koli Jean Bofane’s novel Congo Inc., subtitled Le TestamentdeBismarck(Bismarck’s will). Not just any forest though, but the forest that men shamelessly violate to extract the riches clasped between its centuries-old roots. But the pygmy Isookanga – “a globalist who aspires to become a globaliser” – doesn’t care.

Hehateshuntingmonkeysorgathering plants from the forest floor for his old uncle Lomama. What Isookanga likes is the brutal and unbridled capitalism of the internet strategy game Raging Trade.

“As his virtual avatar Congo Bololo, Isookanga wants it all: minerals, petrol, water, land. Everything is ripe for the taking. In order to reach his goals, he advocates war and all its corollaries: bombings, ethnic cleansing, population displacement, slavery.” Through this litany of violence and oppressionBofaneshowshissense of humour and horror.

Bofane was born in 1954 in Équateur Province. His mother left his father to marry a Belgian settler. “To some degree, it explains why I have a completely different view on all the history between blacks and whites”, he explains. As a child, he lived on his stepfather’s coffee plantation where he watched horror movies for the first time. A line spoken by a child in one of those films – “You are next” – stayed with him until it inspired him to create a child-witch character in Congo Inc.

Bofane’s writing is a skilful combination of political erudition, cruel irony and a delight in words.

Through several well-chosen characters,CongoInc.brewsupaheady mix of the themes that run through the history of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): the pillage of natural resources, gang rape, the craziness of Kinshasa, the ingenuity of shégués (street children), the abuses committed by neighbouring countries, the sexual lives of ‘expats’, the failings of non-governmental organisations and international agencies, etc.

Connecting the local and the global, Bofane reminds readers that the Shinkolobwe mine in Katanga provided uranium for the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima. In this maelstrom of powerful images, a child from a horror film tirelessly repeats: “Yo waa nnex!” In Bofane the DRC has found a voice strong enough to describe its excesses. ● Nicholas Michel First published in Jeune Afrique

65

day in the life

Extraordinary storiEs of ordinary pEoplE

peter dI campo for tar

98

Drawing interest Orphaned at two years old, Bright Kpocha left Togo at 15 to try his luck in Ghana.

He makes money drawing people and seeks to perfect his skills by going to art school

I

am not sure where I was born, but I lived in Ablogamé, Togo, before going to Accra. I lost my parents when I was two years old, so I was brought up by my brother.

He is the only family that I have, besides one uncle. I don’t know my mother’s family.

I have always loved drawing. When I was small I would take a pencil and draw from morning to night. When I was in cinquième [the second year of secondary school], I drew a picture of the president of Togo [Faure Gnassingbé]. I was invited onto TVT for an interview. Following the interview, I was invited to the president’s office.

But when I went there, there were lots of problems.

Everything in Togo is so political. There are so many parties. There is the RPT, the president’s party, and the UFC, whose party colours are red and yellow.

When I drew the president, I used red and yellow.

They thought it was like I was criticising his politics.

But at that time I didn’t know anything about that. They told me to do another drawing. When I left, I was angry.

How could they do these things to me? Instead, they could have given me a scholarship to go to an art school to be the best.

When I was 14, my brother no longer had the money to send me to school. He was offered a job as a mason in Senegal, so he left. After that I came to Ghana to earn

some money. It is easy to get through the border between Ghana and Togo. I pretended that I wanted to buy something on the other side.

When I came to Ghana, I went to the mall and watched a man that I wanted to draw. Something touched me, and in less than five minutes the image was on the paper. As I drew, I didn’t notice people gathering around. I was in the zone. It was the first picture I drew in Ghana.

a proverb from the street

By the time I was done, I had some people by my side.

Two women told me that I have talent and that there is a proverb that says people who have talent like me and who are on the streets and do not have a place to sleep – they are they ones who can do something for the world.

I taught myself how to use a computer. I would go to internet cafés and just watch people, that’s how I learned.

I also learned English from the computer. At night, I go to Osu and ask people if I can draw them. If they say yes, I draw them and they give me some money.

I like Ghana, but it is very expensive compared with Togo. In Togo, you can buy all the things you need to eat with very little money. But here it is not like that, you need to spend a lot more. In Ghana, I can find people that can help me and there are tourists that come here to visit.

I don’t eat meat, drink alcohol or smoke. I feel I can see more clearly if I don’t do these things, I have more inspiration. I now have my birth certificate, and I am trying to get a passport. My dream is to go to the Ecole des Beaux Arts, like Picasso, to perfect my talent. I want to learn their techniques so I can be recognised as the best drawer in the world. ● Interview by Billie Adwoa McTernan the africa report

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n° 62

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j u ly 2 014

Meet the new generation of African entrepreneurs finding ingenious ways to turn their ideas into profitable business.

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