Congo's Riches -- Will they used for the good of its people?

Congo could to be a leading country in Africa.  Today, it is NOT!  It is so heartbreaking to see such potential stolen from the people of Congo.  The Congolese people live in extreme poverty for one reason and one reason only, it leaders and their allies stolen or misused its vast resources.

The mining contracts (conceesions) in the Congo will be reviewed.

New fight for Congo's riches | Business | The Observer.

It is one of the world's most resource-rich countries, with huge deposits of diamonds, gold and copper. For a decade, the Democratic Republic of Congo was torn apart as factions backed by neighbouring countries wreaked murderous havoc on Africa's third-biggest country. Three million died.

As war subsided in all but the eastern region of this vast nation, a new regime led by Joseph Kabila signed dozens of valuable mining contracts with Western concerns based in the southern Katanga region. Only now are the implications of those contracts coming to light.

'The losers, of course, are not the companies who willingly entered into questionable arrangements, but the Congolese people,' says Patricia Feeney, executive director of Rights and Accountability in Development, a renowned expert in Congolese mining.

A commission formed by the Congolese government to investigate several legal and financial aspects of the impoverished central African nation's mining industry published a hard-hitting report this year. It has worried international extraction concerns, which fear their potentially lucrative concessions may be adversely affected. The report has prompted the Congolese to renegotiate 60 of the biggest gold, diamond, copper and zinc contracts. Fresh talks with those concerned are due to begin next month.

PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, guide this new review of mining contracts to ensure your people are helped.  AMEN.