China 'opening up' Congo for minerals, bioenergy with massive $5 billion loan

China 'opening up' Congo for minerals, bioenergy with massive $5 billion loan

China has signed its largest single deal in Africa with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC): a $5 billion loan to develop infrastructures, mining, bioenergy, forestry and agriculture. Infrastructure Minister Pierre Lumbi said the money will be spent on building roads, railroads, hospitals, health centres, housing and universities. All other bilateral and multilateral loans pale in comparison with China's.

In exchange, the People's Republic will get rights to Congo's extensive natural resources, including timber, agricultural products, cobalt and copper. The move is part of China's quest to guarantee supplies of raw materials to its surging economy. After years of war, dictatorship and turmoil, Congo's infrastructure is either non-existent or in ruins, and extraction operations are producing at a fraction of their potential. China wants to change this and take the advantage as an early entrant in the country's reemerging economy.

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