Central African Republic to Review Mining Contracts
April 3, 2013 in Central Africa Republic
Just days after rebels took over the capital city in the Central African Republic, Michel Djotodia, who has named himself the new President of the African country, has confirmed that his government will be examining all mining contracts that were signed with Chinese and South African companies while President Francois Bozize’s government was in power.
Michel Djotodia, a former civil servant turned rebel leader whose forces took control of the capital Bangui over a week ago, has indicated that petroleum and mining licenses awarded to Chinese and South African companies would be reviewed, indicating that he “will ask the relevant ministers to see whether things were badly done, to try to sort them out.” During his tenure in power, former President Bozize had awarded China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) the rights to explore for oil in Boromata, which is located in the northeastern region of the country, near the border with Chad. The contract was signed in a bid to tap the country’s under-exploited mineral wealth. In turn, South Africa’s DIG oil is also prospecting in the southeast of the country, near the town of Carnot. The review of contracts with South Africa and China may also signal that Djotodia and his government are marking a change from his predecessor Bozize’s close ties with South Africa, with which he had signed a fresh bilateral defence agreement in January.
However while the Central African Republic has large deposits of minerals, including diamonds and gold, decades of conflict coupled with mismanagement, have left the country’s people amongst the world’s poorest.
