DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: South Africa's president Thabo Mbeki has signed security, trade and infrastructure deals with his Congolese counterpart Joseph Kabila

South African President Thabo Mbeki, heading a delegation of more than a dozen ministers, signed deals with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on defence and infrastructure on Tuesday (August 21) as the former Belgian colony rebuilds after historic elections. The visit was the first such high-level meeting between the two nations since the DRC held its first democratic polls in more than four decades last year, meant to turn the page on its devastating 1998-2003 war. Ahead of Mbeki's arrival, ministers from South Africa held meetings with their Congolese counterparts to finalise agreements including assistance with security sector reform and help in rebuilding airports, railways and ports. After winning the elections last year Kabila pledged a five-pillar effort to rebuild the vast, mineral-rich nation, focusing on infrastructure, defence, health, education and economic development. "There is no doubt about our common wish to proceed and make this south/south cooperation a reality. On the contrary, our conviction that this type of cooperation is the most appropriate and efficient is growing stronger as time passes," Kabila said. Decades of mismanagement under former ruler Mobutu Sese Seko, combined with the war, have left the infrastructure in the DRC in ruins. Much of the rail network is unchanged since Belgium ceded independence in 1960, while air travel is expensive and unsafe with all but one of dozens of registered airlines black-listed by the European Union (EU). There are few paved roads outside Kinshasa. The deals signed with South Africa included improving the hospital service, reforming the army and rehabilitating airports, ports and railways, officials said. South Africa, a pariah across black Africa until the end of apartheid white rule in 1994, has ramped up its investment across the world's poorest continent in recent years. Mining companies, long a pillar of South Africa's economy, have spread out across Africa producing gold, copper, uranium and other minerals. The DRC's large population and huge mineral reserves have proved a magnet for South African investment. During the meeting, Mbeki joked about the large blue billboards advertising South African mobile operator Vodacom that dot the capital. "We must also focus and not lose sight of the importance of the DRC to the future of Africa and indeed address this critical matter of the generation of the necessary resources to make indeed sure that the programs are not just wishes but they are real actual programs which would help to address these common concerns," said Mbeki. Congo's six-year war killed an estimated four million people, mainly through hunger and disease. Despite last year's polls, it is still plagued by violence at the hands of armed militias, foreign rebel groups and its own army, particularly in the eastern border region with Rwanda.

ITN Source | August 23, 2007

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