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DRC President Felix Tshisekedi on Monday joined African politicians and business leaders in Rwanda for a business forum to boost private investment and regional integration. Host President Paul Kagame wants to create a unique regional market and set aside political divisions. It may be difficult to convince Kinshasa after years of tense relations.
"Nobody should be satisfied with the status quo," Rwandan President Paul Kagame said Monday in his opening address to about 1,500 stakeholders gathered for the seventh African Business Leaders Forum in Kigali.
The two-day forum, attended by national leaders and business leaders from Togo, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, highlighted the lack of progress made in the region. improvement of regional integration and inter-African trade.
"The time has come for the private and public sectors to come up with new ideas and make further progress," Kagame insisted.
Despite the accession of more than 40 countries to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) last year to allow the free movement of goods and services, "much remains to be done", declared the Rwandan leader.
One of the main obstacles is politics.
"If the policy is bad, everything else is bad," he added, speaking at a time when tensions between Rwanda and Uganda are particularly tense. Earlier this month, Kigali closed its border with Kampala, accusing it of arresting Rwandans, disrupting regional trade and providing support and a place for anti-Rwandan groups.
Rwanda's relations with the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo have not improved in the past either, but the presence of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi at the forum of African leaders, at the personal invitation of Kagame, announces better days to come up.
Quest of recognition
The visit of Tshisekedi "is important because Paul Kagame has invited a number of general managers to this forum, including other heads of state, it is therefore a sign of recognition," said Emmanuel Dupuy, president of the Institute for European Prospective and Security Studies (IPSE)).
"What is also important is that this visit coincides with that of his candidate Martin Fayulu, who travels to Europe to highlight the fact that the elections were not fair," added Emmanuel Dupuy.
Independent observers questioned the legitimacy of Tshisekedi's victory, after Fayulu accused the opposition leader of having an agreement with incumbent President Joseph Kabila to prevent it. to take power. Kabila and Tshisekedi deny the allegations.
Tshisekedi is "in a fragile position because it does not have much influence and that it has raised a lot of expectations among the population," said Kris Berwouts, an badyst independent and author of The violent peace of Congo.
"The president needs the visibility and the reinforcement of his external partners and I think that this is one of the important results that he wishes to reach through this forum, "he told RFI.
From enemies to friends
The choice of Paul Kagame as an ally has nevertheless surprised the critics.
"We all remember the time when the Rwandan army was physically present on Congolese territory with a very significant negative impact on the population," adds Berwouts.
During the second Congo war, Rwanda invaded its giant neighbor with the aim of crushing Hutu militants who fled the border after killing more than half a million Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
In 2010, the United Nations accused Kigali of plundering Congo minerals and, still today, many Congolese still accuse Rwanda of arming and supporting rebel militias.
For Dupuy, from IPSE, it is time to end the "mutual accusations of the use of the wealth of the other country by both countries." It is necessary to work closely together because these two actors are important actors in the region ".
In a symbolic gesture, Tshisekedi visited Monday a memorial of the genocide and paid tribute to the 800,000 victims, a first by a Congolese leader.
Later in the day, his country was honored by the organizers of the forum, which illuminated the Kigali Convention Center, venue of the forum of African leaders, under the colors red, blue and yellow of the national flag of Congo.
Land of Opportunity
Diplomacy may have been one of Tshisekedi's main motivations for attending the forum, but the same was true for investment hunt.
"The attractiveness of DR Congo is still there," said Laure Gnbadou, an economist with extensive experience working on the Congo.
The new president wants to rebadure investors disturbed by the country's volatile political situation.
Despite the crisis, foreign direct investment in Kinshasa amounted to US $ 1,400 million in 2017, according to the World Investment Report, a sign that "with or without crisis, the country can still attract foreign direct investment," he said. Mr. Gnbadou.
The challenge now for Tshisekedi will be to attract investment beyond the mining sector to other industries such as agribusiness. He must also tackle corruption.
Last year, several family members of former leader Joseph Kabila were involved in the Panama Papers, a giant data leak denouncing a system of crime, corruption, and wrongdoing.
"Nothing has been done to remedy this," said Gnbadou, warning that this inaction could have a negative impact on the business climate in the country.
DR Congo "remains a land of opportunity for investors because it is a resource-rich country".
For this to remain so, it will depend on "until Tshisekedi's attack on corruption to attract foreign and domestic investors," said Laure Gnbadou.
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