DAKAR (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila signed into law on Friday a new mining code that raises royalties and taxes on operators, the presidency said in a statement.

International mining companies that operate in Congo, Africa’s top copper producer, have vigorously opposed the new law, although Kabila pledged this week to work with them while implementing it.

The law, passed by parliament in late January, replaces an earlier code from 2002. It raises royalties on minerals across the board and removes a clause that protected miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years.

Executives from Glencore, Randgold, China Molybdenum and Ivanhoe failed to convince Kabila during a six-hour meeting on Wednesday to re-open negotiations over the code, which they say will deter investment and violate existing agreements.

The two sides agreed, however, to open negotiations next week over measures to implement the code, and Mines Minister Martin Kabwelulu said the companies’ concerns would be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Royalties on cobalt, a vital component in electric car batteries, could increase fivefold to 10 percent if the government designates the metal a “strategic substance”. The law also introduces a windfall profits tax. </s> DAKAR, March 9 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila signed into law on Friday a new mining code that raises royalties and taxes on operators, the presidency said in a statement.

International mining companies that operate in Congo, Africa’s top copper producer, have vigorously opposed the new law, although Kabila pledged this week to work with them while implementing it. (Reporting By Aaron Ross, editing by Larry King) </s> DR Congo President Joseph Kabila enacted a law to hike taxes on so-called strategic metals and ordered government consultations with foreign companies worried by the change, an official said Sunday.

"The law has been promulgated in the same form as was adopted by parliament," a presidential adviser who asked not to be named told AFP.

The new text replaces the Democratic Republic of Congo's 2002 mining code, which the government considered to favour foreign investors at the expense of the economy.

The new code allows a levy of up to 10 percent on key minerals, expected to include copper and cobalt.

There would also be a tax of 50 percent on windfall profits -- so-called super-profits that occur when prices go at least 25 percent above a given benchmark.

Cobalt is of particular concern to foreign companies that mine it for use in smartphones.

The government said in an earlier statement that the mining companies' "concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the new mining law is approved, with a view to finding a compromise".

The vast central African country is rich in minerals but has suffered violent instability over recent months.

Kabila has postponed elections and his opponents are demanding he step out of the running ahead of a vote scheduled for December. </s> Congolese President Joseph Kabila has signed a mining law that is expected to increase the country’s royalties despite opposition from major mining companies.

Kabila announced the signing on Friday, two days after he met with mining company representatives for at least seven hours about the legislation that DRC’s parliament already had approved.

DRC remains deeply impoverished despite being one of the world’s most mineral-rich countries. The vast nation was plundered during decades of colonialism and dictatorship.

The revisions to DRC’s 2002 mining code have brought opposition because they would sharply increase the costs of doing business in the country. Kabila has said he will take the concerns of mining companies into consideration.

DRC is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral found in lithium-ion batteries. </s> KINSHASA, Congo (AP) - Congolese President Joseph Kabila has signed a mining law that is expected to increase the country's royalties despite opposition from major mining companies.

Kabila announced the signing on Friday, two days after he met with mining company representatives for at least seven hours about the legislation that Congo's parliament already had approved.

Congo remains deeply impoverished despite being one of the world's most mineral-rich countries. The vast nation was plundered during decades of colonialism and dictatorship.

The revisions to Congo's 2002 mining code have brought opposition because they would sharply increase the costs of doing business in the country. Kabila has said he will take the concerns of mining companies into consideration.

Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a mineral found in lithium-ion batteries.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> KINSHASA, March 7 (Reuters) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Joseph Kabila will soon sign into law a new mining code, the government and the country’s mining companies said on Wednesday. The code has been vigorously opposed by the miners.

The announcement followed a nearly six-hour meeting between Kabila and mining executives in Kinshasa about the new code, which will raise taxes and remove a stability clause in the current law protecting miners from changes to the fiscal and customs regime for 10 years.

“The president of the republic assured the miners ... that their concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the promulgation of the new mining law,” a joint statement said.

Glencore, Randgold and China Molybdenum all operate mines in Congo, Africa’s top copper and cobalt producer, and have said the changes in the code adopted by parliament in January would scare off new investment and violate existing agreements. Ivanhoe is developing a mine and upgrading another that is not currently in production.

Mining executives declined to answer questions from reporters after the meeting, with Randgold Chief Executive Mark Bristow saying they had “work to do”.

Ivanhoe and China Moly declined to comment further when reached via email.

Mines Minster Martin Kabwelulu told reporters after the meeting that the companies’ concerns would be treated on a “case-by-case basis”.

“After the promulgation of the code, we are going to wait for the mining companies ... to send us their concerns,” Kabwelulu said. “We are going to re-examine those concerns, first with (government) experts ... and with the mining companies’ experts.”

Randgold, which operates the giant Kibali gold mine in northeastern Congo, said last month that it would challenge the new code through international arbitration if it was not referred back to the mines ministry for further consultation with industry.

The government has disputed the companies’ claims that the new code will make them unprofitable and said the revision is needed to boost meager public revenues in a country with an annual budget of only about $5 billion.

Under one provision in the proposed code, royalties on cobalt, a vital component in electric car batteries, could increase fivefold to 10 percent. The law will also introduce a windfall profits tax.

Congo is the world’s biggest source of cobalt. Its output jumped 15.5 percent last year to 73,940 tonnes. (Reporting by Amedee Mwarabu; Writing by Aaron Ross; Additional reporting by Nicole Mordant in Vancouver, editing by Larry King and Grant McCool) </s> Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption DR Congo produces more than 60% of the world's cobalt

The Democratic Republic of Congo has moved to increase taxes on mining firms and increase government royalties from the industry despite fierce opposition from international mining companies.

President Joseph Kabila signed a new mining code into law on Friday.

The country is Africa's biggest producer of copper and cobalt, a vital component in mobile phone batteries.

Foreign mining firms strongly opposed the law, saying their operations in DR Congo would stop being profitable.

Several chief executives flew to the Congolese capital Kinshasa this week in the hopes of persuading Mr Kabila to change his mind.

They argued that the legislation would deter future investment and violate existing agreements, reported Reuters news agency.

The government however has agreed to consider their concerns on a case by case basis, and work with them in executing the new code.

DR Congo has talked for years about changing its 2002 mining code, which it believed put too many profits in the hands of foreign companies, says BBC World Service Africa editor Mary Harper.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption DR Congo's resources have been a catalyst for past conflict

Its mining industry - which also produces diamond, tantalum, tin and gold - is the country's largest source of export income.

The law, which was passed by parliament in January, will double government royalties on all minerals.

The impoverished yet mineral-rich nation provides more than 60% of the world's cobalt. Prices for it more than doubled last year thanks to an increased demand for electric cars, which require cobalt for batteries.

Royalties on cobalt could also more than quadruple if the government labels it a "strategic substance". </s> AngloGold Ashanti and partner Randgold Resources say talks between the mining industry and Congolese President Joseph Kabila have reached agreement to address companies’ concerns about new mining laws.

AngloGold and London-listed Randgold share the new Kibali mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Randgold CEO Mark Bristow was outspoken during the Mining Indaba in February about the new mining code Kabila has yet to sign into law.

Other companies affected by the changes in mining laws in the DRC include Glencore, whose hard-nosed CEO Ivan Glasenberg joined fellow South Africans and equally tough Bristow in the talks with Kabila and mines ministry officials on Wednesday in Kinshasa. </s> Kambale Musavuli, one of the country's leading political and cultural voices, told Radio Sputnik that the violence is being driven by competition for minerals and resources, which are being snatched by Western powers in order to manufacture our beloved tech.

​"We have a political crisis at the moment. Many Americans do not know that minerals, like cobalt, used to make their technological devices, cell phone batteries and cars, predominantly come from Congo. In fact, Congo is the number one producer of cobalt in the world today," Musavuli, who is the national spokesman for The Friends of the Congo, told Radio Sputnik's Loud & Clear.

The renewed violence between the Hutu, Nande and Hundu ethnic groups in the Rutshuru Territory of Congo's North Kivu province is motivated by the desire to control land replete with minerals.

"We have recorded the deaths of 16 civilians and seven militiamen since Sunday," Francois Bakundakabo, an aide to the country's provincial governor, told AFP.

The Hundu people consider Congolese Hutus to be invaders that support the Hutu rebels in neighboring Rwanda.

"The situation today is tied to the direct history of Western interference, particularly the US," Musavuli told Loud & Clear hosts Brian Becker and John Kiriakou.

Kiriakou agreed, adding, "The country is very, very rich in natural resources that are used widely in US manufacturing — and in all manufacturing, for that matter. However, the country is kept poor by Western countries that are taking the resources out of it and this has led to violence."

"The central question in Congo is who is going to control Congo's resources. The resources find the way out, but the Congolese people remain at the bottom of the human development index as natural resources are being stolen from the country," Musavuli noted.

Violence in the country has also surged as of late as protesters march against President Joseph Kabila's extended rule. According to the United Nations, 47 people were wounded in Sunday anti-Kabila protests while more than 100 people were arrested as Congolese security forces cracked down.

Kabila has been president of the DR Congo since taking office following the assassination of his father, President Laurent-Desire Kabila, in 2001.

In 2006, the United Nations brokered a democratic election in the country and Kabila was elected to a five-year term as president, subsequently winning re-election in December 2011. His second term expired in 2016. According to the country's legislation, Kabila is not allowed to stay in office for his third term, but the country's election commission has not yet called elections to determine Kabila's successor, enabling him to remain in the office of the presidency. Opposition voices in the country claim the authorities are intentionally delaying the presidential election to allow Kabila to remain in power. </s> KINSHASA (Reuters) - Sylvestre Ilunga Ilukamba, a career politician and ally of former President Joseph Kabila, was appointed as Democratic Republic of Congo’s prime minister on Monday, the government said in a statement.

Ilukamba was previously the head of Congo’s national railway company, known as the SNCC, and has served in various government posts since the 1970s, according to an official biography released on Monday.

Felix Tshisekedi won long-delayed presidential elections in Dec. 30, 2018, defeating a candidate officially backed by Kabila, whose own term limit was up.

Opposition politicians say the result was rigged in a secret deal between Kabila’s and Tshisekedi’s camps under which Kabila would officially step down but maintain control, a charge they both denied.

Forming a new government has taken months, in part because of disagreements over the appointment of a Prime Minister. Kabila had wanted Tshisekedi to appoint Albert Yuma, a Kabila ally and chairman of state mining company Gecamines, but Tshisekedi refused because of Yuma’s checkered history, sources familiar with the matter said.

Under Congo’s constitution, the candidate must come from the ranks of the parliamentary majority, Kabila’s Common Front for Congo (FCC). Ilukamba is also from Katanga, the same mineral-rich part of the country as Kabila.

Despite concerns, the appointment marks at least an official move on from Kabila’s 18-year rule. On Monday, Congolese opposition leader Moise Katumbi returned home from three years in exile, one of a series of indicted politicians cleared under Tshisekedi’s administration.

Thousands of supporters came out to welcome Katumbi at the airport in Lubumbashi, the main city in his political heartland in the copper-mining Katanga region.

“I’m happy to be back home, the truth always triumphs,” he said.

Tshisekedi has pardoned 700 prisoners including three political opponents of his predecessor Joseph Kabila since coming to power in January.

His supporters say the moves point to a new era political openness after years of suppression of opposition figures.

Katumbi fled the country in May 2016 in the face of accusations he had hired mercenaries as part of a plot against Kabila’s government.

He was then sentenced in absentia to three years in prison for real estate fraud - both charges his supporters said were aimed at preventing him from running in an election to replace Kabila.

But Katumbi’s fraud conviction was overturned by an appeals court last month. And prosecutors said they had also dropped their investigations into the mercenary accusations “given that the president of the republic has made easing political tensions his priority”.
Congolese President Joseph Kabila signs a law that increases taxes on mining and government royalties on international mining companies working in DR Congo, including on the mining of cobalt, despite the opposition from foreign companies.