The Democratic Republic of Congo will receive a $7-billion-investment under the agreement, “mainly intended for construction of national roads,” mining company Sicomines said in a communique published on X.
The agreement will grant the DRC's state-owned mining company, Gecamines, a 1.2% royalty on the earnings from the Sicomines, as well as the authority to sell 32% of its production.
Moreover, both parties will jointly manage the Busanga Power Plant, "with 60% of the shares for the Chinese Party and 40% for the DRC."
“These optimizations […] promote the achievement of win-win cooperation objectives and constitute a significant step to promote new development of cooperation between China and the DRC,” the document concluded.
The current agreement is an updated version of a document signed in April 2008. However, after more than 15 years, China and the DRC decided to negotiate some optimizations.
According to the reports, the DRC's president Felix Tshisekedi said this week that the initial agreement provided little benefit to his country and that less than a third of a $3 billion intended for infrastructure projects was actually paid out.
Relations between China and Africa are actively developing. As per the Chinese State Council Information Office, China has been Africa's primary trading partner for the past decade, with the total commerce between the two surpassing $260 billion in 2022. In the initial six months of 2023, the trade between China and Africa experienced a 7.4% year-on-year growth, reaching approximately $158.36 billion.
Moreover, on December 25, 2023, a zero-tariff import regime for goods from six African countries, including the DR Congo, began to operate.