Dernières infos – en

* EU to go beyond Kimberley Process, include more than diamonds

* EU remains divided over whether the process should be binding

By Francesco Guarascio

BY CHRISPIN MVANO

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo Tue Feb 4, 2014 9:06am EST

(Reuters) – Senior members of a Rwandan Hutu rebel force based in eastern Congo said on Tuesday they had started laying down their arms and were ready for talks with Kigali, but U.N. peacekeepers said they had seen no signs of disarmament.

Firms working in Katanga province deny wrongdoing after study suggests customs duties and fines worth $3.7bn remain unpaid

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29 January 2014 – More than 400,000 people have been displaced recently in the so-called “Triangle of Death” – the area between the towns of Pweto, Mitwaba and Manono – in the Katanga province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the United Nations confirmed today.

KINSHASA Thu Jan 30, 2014 8:52am EST
(Reuters) – Democratic Republic of Congo is owed an estimated $3.7 billion in unpaid customs duties and fines by companies operating in its copper-rich Katanga province between 2008 and 2013, according to an unpublished report commissioned by the public prosecutor's office.
The report, seen by Reuters and dated November 2013, is part of an ongoing government probe into suspected malpractice by customs agents and companies in the vast southeastern province. It accused companies there of under-declaring the value of imports and exports, and sometimes avoiding tax altogether, often with the collusion of customs officials.

By Michael J. Kavanagh

Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. is concerned by the
Democratic Republic of Congo’s lack of progress demobilizing M23
rebels and assisting their return to civilian life, Special
Envoy to Africa’s Great Lakes Region Russell Feingold said.

27 January 2014 – Despite significant progress towards peace in the strife-torn eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the international community must keep humanitarian aid flowing into a country where nearly 3 million people, half of them children, are currently displaced, according to the United Nations.

By Peter JonesKINSHASA,

Jan 23 (Reuters) – Israeli billionaire businessman Dan Gertler sold one of his Congo-based oil companies to the government last year for $150 million – 300 times the amount paid for the oil rights – in a deal criticised by transparency campaigners.

Below is an article which appeared in Jeune Afrique by the former President of Nigeria (1999-2007), Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Governor of the Bank of Botswana, Linah Mohohlo (1999-). It speaks of DRC’s natural resources and the need for the Congo’s Oil and Mining laws to integrate transparency and good governance.