The Congolese presidency has announced the signing of an agreement with Israeli billionaire and mining magnate Dan Gertler. The latter will return its precious mining assets, estimated at 2 billion dollars, to the State.
This is a real blow for Israeli businessman Dan Gertler. And a symbolic victory for the presidency of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). At the center of most mining and financial scandals under the Kabila era, sanctioned by the US Treasury and threatened with imprisonment in dozens of countries, Gertler ended up accepting the offer from the Palais de la Nation, Kinshasa.
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The Tshisekedi administration had offered the businessman to sell the assets of his company Ventora Development - formerly Fleurette Group - to the DRC government in exchange for judicial reconciliation. Estimated at 2 billion dollars, they will therefore now be the property of the Congolese state, after a long battle, particularly in the media. Accused of being at the origin of numerous scandals, Gertler had, at the end of last year, deplored the actions of “well-known individuals with dubious motivations”. He finally had to comply with the demands of the Congolese administration.
Dan Gertler's empire strikes back… unsuccessfully
It must be said that Gertler no longer has many allies. Released by the United States and threatened during his Israeli exile with being delivered to the American authorities, the businessman preferred to separate from the flagship of his empire against a judicial reconciliation. If it now seems difficult for Gertler to continue to conduct his business in the DRC, without the precious help of Joseph Kabila, who has - momentarily? — withdrawn from public affairs, he is counting on this compromise with the State to, at least, avoid going through prison.
Dan Gertler had nevertheless attempted a takeover operation with Congolese public opinion. From Israel, he launched his “Yabiso” project. He then proposed to distribute 30% of the earnings of his company Metalkol to the populations. Insufficient, for the Congolese presidency, but also for civil society.
Last April, the movement "the Congo is not for sale" (CNAPV) published a damning report, denouncing the embezzlement of Dan Gertler. A way for Congolese civil society to show that this offer from Gertler was only an unfair negotiation, far from being equal to the scandals that involved the businessman. The CNAPV estimated that Gertler's "opaque and corrupt" contracts, signed with the DRC during Kabila's time, caused the state to lose $1,76 billion each year.
A victory for the Tshisekedi administration
Under media pressure, especially after the “Congo Files” journalistic investigation, Dan Gertler agreed to dialogue with official channels. Negotiations with the Congolese State which began under the direction of Félix Tshisekedi's chief of staff, Guylain Nyembo, and his deputy in charge of economic affairs, André Wameso.
The offer, accepted Thursday by Dan Gertler, consisted of the latter ceding control and ownership of the Ventora Development group, valued at $2 billion thanks to its mining facilities, to the Congolese state. A first in the country's history.
After the invalidation of his oil exploitation permits last June and the suspension of all mining permits last November by Félix Tshisekedi, Dan Gertler would not have been able to continue his activities anyway. Back to the wall, the Israeli therefore ended up giving in.
For President Tshisekedi, this is an important victory, both economically and politically. Indeed, the nationalization of Ventora Development will eventually strengthen the state company, Gécamines. The latter, whose development was at the center of Félix Tshisekedi's electoral promises, will finally be able to display ambitions worthy of Congolese wealth.
Politically, "Fatshi" strikes a blow: the loss of Ventora by Gertler is a blow for the Kabila clan, which relied heavily on the influence of the Israeli to control the mining sector and to liaise, both with the Jewish state than with the United States.