Directors at Sicomines led by Guylain Nyembo and 39 other directors are at the center of massive looting of Congolese minerals under the direction of imposter president Felix Tshisekedi with $28 million unaccounted for in directors’ fees.
It is enough to carefully read the letter sent dated July 13, 2024 to the Minister of State responsible for Infrastructure and Public Works, by the general director of Sicomines S.A., Mr. Li Sheng, to note with dismay that the limits of reasonableness have been largely exceeded.
Since Félix Tshisekedi came to power, it is obvious that corruption, theft and embezzlement have been elevated to the rank of governance practices. The scale of this phenomenon is such that our Chinese partners – usually disinclined to worry about financial standards – have this time deemed it necessary to take precautionary measures, in order to avoid any confusion in the minds of leaders in Beijing.
Chinese business leaders sent to the Democratic Republic of Congo to run businesses are now obliged to justify the colossal amounts that their companies spend to fuel this vast corruption which is plaguing the country.
The subject of the letter from the boss of Sino-Congolaise des Mines concerns the accounting of various expenses incurred by his company as part of the infrastructure project. For those who are not familiar with this issue, the partnership was launched in 2008 by former President Joseph Kabila, commonly nicknamed the “contract of the century”, and was aimed at allowing the Democratic Republic of Congo to fill its deficit in basic infrastructure – roads, water and electricity – in exchange for the delivery of copper ores worth USD 6 billion to China. This merger led to the creation of Sicomines, a Chinese company dedicated to mining. This context, fraught with crucial issues, makes the questions raised by the management of funds allocated to this project intended to provide the DR Congo with a national modern infrastructure platform all the more worrying.
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As long as we are interested in the evolution of the price of raw materials, it is difficult not to notice the incredible surge in their prices, particularly copper, the price of which has more than tripled since the signing of the famous contract. Rising from USD 2,500 to almost USD 8,500 per tonne, this meteoric rise offered the company exceptional sales profits. When he came to power, Félix Tshisekedi was promptly encouraged by donors, notably the International Monetary Fund, to consider a review of the Chinese contract to reassess its conditions. At the same time, the question of copper reserves emerged as a key issue, sparking discussions which, curiously, ended in the cozy living rooms of the Chinese ambassador.
It’s these activities that have recently revealed that Tshisekedi and his operatives have looted the DRC of millions of dollars with the latest estimated at $28 million.