US travel restrictions imposed over Congo’s Ebola outbreak are complicating a fledgling economic partnership between the two nations, said Bloomberg News, citing Congo’s foreign minister.
Washington last week widened the rule requiring a 21-day wait outside Congo before entry, extending it to citizens as well as non-citizens. The requirement holds even for travelers who never visited the remote area where the outbreak is centered, said Bloomberg News.
Congo understands the Trump administration’s effort to shield Americans but is pressing for changes through “very frank conversations,” Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner told Bloomberg in Washington. “It’s not just a set back for the DRC, obviously it’s a set-back also for US companies that want to invest in the DRC,” she said.
The countries signed a strategic investment agreement in December granting US firms preferential access to Congo’s copper, cobalt and lithium reserves, part of Washington’s push to counter China’s grip on critical mineral supply chains.
The curbs have already prompted investors, including KoBold Metals Co., to skip Congo’s mining conference last month. KoBold’s local operations chief, Benjamin Katabuka, said the firm had restricted travel by staff meant to support its exploration work.
The State Department said Washington remains committed to backing US business in Congo while tackling the epidemic at its source.
Kayikwamba herself served the 21-day quarantine before traveling to the US for a World Cup match and UN meetings. Congo’s outbreak, declared in May, has recorded 2,344 confirmed cases and 930 deaths as of 18 July, government figures show.
