OPINION South Africa leading renaissance
By PETER MADAKA
Unemployment, poverty and lack of essential government services have replaced the insecurity and mayhem that until very recently reigned in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Not that the country itself is poor. According to a U.N. report regarding the conflict in the DRC, the abundance of natural resources has been the curse that has attracted foreign exploiters who in turn have funded the chaos to perpetuate the illegal exploitation of the country's resources. Yet, if all goes according to South African President Thambo Mbeki's plan, the natural resources of the DRC could become its blessing.
Mbeki rode into Kinshasa last week leading a powerful delegation of seven Cabinet Ministers and 60 of South Africa's top private sector businesses in an effort to consolidate the South African-sponsored peace deal in the DRC with an infusion of meaningful and long-term economic investments.
The visit, which comes on the heels of the African National Congress' launching of its own reelection bid, also carries a message for the rest of Africa that goes beyond the DRC. For President Mbeki-a firm believer in the African renaissance-the DRC could hold the key to Africa's social, economic and political rebirth.
Mbeki believes that success in the DRC could be replicated elsewhere in Africa. This is a message he was eager to deliver to Congolese lawmakers last week. "Without peace in the DRC we cannot have an African renaissance," Mbeki declared. This message is important, accompanying a heavy purse from the leader of a government that is not only sponsoring the peace but the desire and enough resources to help the Congolese economy turn around.
Until recently, numerous invaders crossed the nine borders of the DRC to exploit its resources, most notably from Rwanda, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa. It is therefore welcome news that South Africa is leading a team of legitimate investors to Africa's largest and wealthiest country.
While there is no doubt that the much needed South African commitment will bring stability across the continent and spin-offs from these investments could spark positive developments elsewhere on the continent, it may well be naïve to expect South African capital to behave more humanely and more sensitively to Africa's environmental and labour needs than their Western counterparts.
Evidently, citizens of the DRC have been here before. They have seen international investors come and go, only to fatten Congo's former President Mobutu's personal holdings at their (the citizens') expense. Can citizens in the DRC expect South African capital to behave any differently?
Mbeki's visit could not have come at a better time. Today, one-third of DRC's civil servants are unpaid. Corruption is on the rise and war-weary soldiers are becoming increasingly restive as poverty festers in the countryside.
As things are, the Kabila government is too fragmented and shaky to exert respectable authority. A shrunken revenue base that is struggling to support much needed services further exacerbates the situation. But, turning to foreign investment, even if it is South African, has its risks. Just how responsive are South African entrepreneurs likely to be to the needs of the government and war-weary peasants of the DRC?
Among the latest South African arrivals in Kinshasa are Mvelephande Holdings and Afrimineral Holdings which have already signed a memorandum of understanding with the DRC for investments worth an estimated R60 billion or the equivalent of US$8 billion over the next decade. Siemens South Africa has already signed a $50-million contract with the national electricity board of the DRC to install 35,000 electricity connections in the country.
Siemens, with several partners, including Eskom, is also involved in the rehabilitation of Inga One and Two electricity projects. The two plants supply energy to Kinshasa, Congo-Brazzaville and Zambia. The expanded Inga project is to supply electricity to the rest of the Congo Angola, and Namibia. It is envisaged that the plant will eventually be able to supply electricity to the entire continent of Africa.
Until the Mbeki visit last week, Vodacom led foreign investment in the DRC with $157-million, with plans to push that initial investment to $500-million. But, the market dominance of Vodacom, which now controls 44 per cent of the cell-phone market in the DRC, may not last long. Furthermore, a group of South African business people led by Peter Vundla was in the DRC last year to look at investment opportunities. Vundla's New Seasons Investment Group, along with another South African company, are bidding for the rehabilitation of Kinshasa International Airport to the tune of $250 million.
The Paris Club, a group of donor countries which has run the continent of Africa as a fiefdom for decades has, for the first time, been overshadowed by South African capital. What difference this will make remains to be seen. Still, determined not to be written off completely, the Paris Club has jumped into the fray, pledging $4-billion for the reconstruction of the DRC with $1-billion being available this year.
The Mbeki visit, without a doubt, is an impressive show of South African economic muscle in a region historically starved of capital. The timing of the visit is especially crucial for the future of the DRC. Bringing with it investments that will stabilize the country, the South African government is now committed. And this is likely to feature in the current ANC re-election bid. Above all, the conduct of South African investors, the way they treat local workers and the local environment could well convince the rest of Africa that an African renaissance is possible, if, indeed, South Africa is able to lead that rebirth.
Mitayo Potosi
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