KINSHASA (dpa) – Indications are growing that the some of the world’s big donors are ready to resume lending to the government in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a country nearly 13 billion dollars in debt with a history of deep-seated corruption.
While humanitarian aid has continued to flow into Congo, most donors have refused direct aid to the government in Kinshasa since the days of Zairean dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.The European Union and the World Bank recently announced renewed funding, and an International Monetary Fund delegation spoke of “encouraging signs” during a December mission in Kinshasa to assess President Joseph Kabila’s economic reform programme.Now plans are in the works for a World Bank-organized “resource mobilisation meeting” in March, at which the government could expect further funding.The government’s critics say it’s too soon to resume development assistance. Congo is embroiled in civil war, with rebel groups controlling virtually half the country. It has never held a democratic election in 40 years of independence and none is on the horizon. Kabila’s government continues to be criticized for arbitrarily arresting journalists, human rights workers and opposition figures.But the donors say they’re pleased with the economic measures the 30-year-old Kabila has taken since inheriting power after his father Laurent was assassinated a year ago. He floated the currency, slashed inflation, eliminated the price controls that caused constant fuel shortages, and fired corrupt heads of state-owned corporations.In a joint statement after a pre-Christmas meeting on Congo, the World Bank, IMF, E.U. and 15 donor nations “paid tribute to the government’s expressed desire to fight corruption, and to improve the regulatory framework for investment.”“We will make the place – the whole country – attractive to foreign investors,” Information Minister Kikaya bin Karubi told Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa.“What we are courting are the long-term investors, people who will invest in long-term projects that will be here for years, that can develop this country,” Karubi said.Some in Congo are worried Western donors are willing to turn a blind eye to these problems because of the immense potential for profit from Congo’s natural resources.“The international financial institutions can put lots of pressure on the government,” said Dieudonné Munyinga, of the African Association for the Defence of Human Rights. He said donors would be wrong to reward Kabila’s government with money now.His view is echoed by Jean-Joseph Mukindi, an adviser to Etienne Tshisekedi, leader of the prominent opposition Union for Democracy and Social Progress.Mukindi said while Kabila has courted the favour of Western nations, “iside the country, the methods of the father are being continued by the son.”However, Kabila has broken with his father’s stances on certain issues. He reversed a ban on political parties. He has allowed the deployment of United Nations peacekeepers. He has begun discussions with the opposition, rebel groups and civil society about sharing power and moving toward democracy, a process called the “inter- Congolese dialogue.”The dialogue stalled during talks in October, and since the donors have said funding to the government is contingent on progress in the dialogue.
