Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila wooed South African businesses on Friday, portraying his war-ravaged country as a risk-free environment that is ripe for investment.
Kabila, on the final day of a state visit to South Africa, conceded security remained a concern in the east of the country but sought to assure a business audience in Cape Town that the situation was being dealt with.
Much has changed in the DRC since he first appealed for South African business investment five years ago, said Kabila, who was elected president of the mineral-rich nation last October.
“The business community from South Africa and elsewhere in the world, when you come to [DRC] you won’t be meeting … a bunch of revolutionaries, no, you will be meeting legitimate, democratic institutions,” he told a South Africa-DRC business forum.
“Political risks, those don’t exist anymore.”
Kabila gave an assurance that government institutions would remain stable and democratic “for a very long time to come”, quipping that nobody would try to amend the Constitution “to get a third or fourth mandate”.
Economically, there was nothing to hamper investment, and bureaucratic processes were being reformed to make the road even smoother, the president said.
“The [DRC] is a changed country. The [DRC] is ready to receive you. Come and invest …, the opportunities are there,” said Kabila.
“The minor problems we do have … are more or less streams compared to the rivers we have crossed. And we continue to deal with these.”
South African President Thabo Mbeki told the forum he believed the DRC to present “a good business opportunity”.
“I am joining president Kabila in saying to South African corporates: ‘Let’s be part of what is a very exciting process’.”
South Africa played the leading role in the DRC peace process, with Mbeki hosting the 2003 signing of a peace deal at the luxury Sun City casino resort north-west of Pretoria.
The agreement drew a line under more than five years of fighting.
South Africa also has about 2, 00 troops serving in a 17 600-strong United Nations peacekeeping mission. — AFP