DRC’s Tshisekedi talks anti-corruption as seeks to repair IMF relationship

Felix Tshisekedi, president, DRC

SIGNS that Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) president, Felix Tshisekedi, is interested in reform were in evidence yesterday when he met with the Washington-based International Monetary Fund (IMF) in an effort to repair the relationship between it and the central Africa country.

Tshisekedi, who replaced Joseph Kabila after elections in December, last month told delegates while on a visit to Washington that he’d come “to untangle the dictatorial system which was in place.” He told another meeting that Congo’s endemic corruption had “discouraged serious investors.”

“We urge them to do a thorough audit at every level and not to be lenient,” Gilbert Mundela, an adviser to Tshisekedi, told Bloomberg News.

Non-government organisations want the IMF to undertake “… an independent audit into the management of public companies,”  according to a letter addressed to the IMF’s MD, Christine Lagarde. They also called for unpublished mining contracts to be made public.

The fund halted a $532m three-year loan program for Congo seven years ago after the government failed to publish details of a 2011 mining deal. “Opacity in the management of public companies has only increased” since the program ended, according to the letter.

Tshisekedi’s comments following his visit to Washington last month drew encouraging comments from John Thornton, chairman of Barrick Gold which operates the Kibali mine in joint venture with AngloGold Ashanti in the country.

“As the value leader in the global gold sector, Barrick offers the DRC peerless exploration, technical and financial support,” Thornton. “We look forward to continue making a significant and growing contribution to the DRC’s economy and to unlocking the enormous value of its mineral potential,” said Thornton.