
RDC: L’Assemblee Pleniere du Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel et de la Communication (CSAC) – (17.11.2016)



The Secretary-General takes note of the appointment of Mr. Samy Badibanga as Prime Minister ahead of the formation of a transitional government of national unity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), in line with the political agreement of 18 October.
The Secretary-General welcomes this first concrete step in the implementation of the political agreement, which is expected to culminate in the holding of credible elections in the country. He calls on the Government to be formed by Prime Minister Badibanga to create a climate conducive to upholding the fundamental rights and freedoms essential to political debate and credible, inclusive elections, as called for in Security Council resolution 2277 (2016).
The Secretary-General welcomes the mediation efforts led by the Conférence épiscopale du Congo (CENCO) and calls on political groups that did not sign the political agreement to remain engaged and work towards the peaceful resolution of their differences. He further calls on all political actors to continue working in good faith and in a spirit of compromise towards a political solution that paves the way for peaceful, credible, inclusive and timely elections in the DRC, in keeping with the Constitution and the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.
The Secretary-General thanks Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo for his leadership over the last four years and looks forward to working with the Government led by Prime Minister Badibanga.
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Déclaration attribuable au Porte-parole du Secrétaire général sur la République démocratique du Congo
Le Secrétaire général prend note de la nomination de M. Samy Badibanga au poste de Premier ministre en vue de la formation d’un gouvernement d’unité nationale de transition en République démocratique du Congo (RDC), conformément à l’accord politique du 18 octobre.
Le Secrétaire général se félicite de cette première mesure concrète prise dans le cadre de la mise en œuvre de l’accord politique qui devrait mener à la tenue d’élections crédibles dans le pays. Il encourage le gouvernement qui sera formé par le Premier ministre Badibanga à créer un climat propice au respect des libertés et droits fondamentaux essentiels au débat politique et à des élections crédibles et inclusives, comme le prévoit la résolution 2277 (2016) du Conseil de sécurité.
Le Secrétaire général se félicite de la médiation menée par la Conférence épiscopale du Congo (CENCO) et appelle les groupes politiques qui n’ont pas signé l’accord politique à rester engagés et à travailler à la résolution de leurs différends de manière pacifique. Il appelle en outre tous les acteurs politiques à continuer à œuvrer de bonne foi et dans un esprit de compromis en vue d’une solution politique ouvrant la voie à des élections pacifiques, crédibles, inclusives et dans les meilleurs délais en RDC, conformément à la Constitution et à la Charte africaine de la démocratie, des élections et de la gouvernance.
Le Secrétaire général remercie le Premier ministre Augustin Matata Ponyo pour son leadership au cours des quatre dernières années et se réjouit de travailler avec le gouvernement dirigé par le Premier ministre Badibanga.
New York, le 17 novembre 2016


Harare, 17 November 2016 – El Niño-induced drought has led to a serious surge in food insecurity and hunger affecting 40 million people across the southern Africa region. Zimbabwe, one of the countries most affected, is in the midst of the worst drought in 25 years that is projected to affect 5.2 million people including 1.1 million urban dwellers during the first quarter of 2017.
Addressing some 150 participants at the 4 th national multi-stakeholders consultative meeting jointly convened by the Office of the President and Cabinet and the UN System in Zimbabwe today in Harare, the UN Resident Coordinator Bishow Parajuli said, “As we approach the peak hunger period of the lean season, inadequate funding to the humanitarian response plan will not only curtail the ongoing relief efforts to increase assistance to the most vulnerable in the rural settlements and scale-up assistance in urban areas but also risks reversing the gains made in the development and humanitarian areas thus far.”
Of the $352 million being sought under the Humanitarian Response Plan (April 2016-March 2017), nearly $212 million has been committed, with the current funding gap at $140 million. The committed financial and in kind relief support has allowed the UN and NGOs to reach approximately 1.7 million vulnerable people in over 42 districts with food, cash, agricultural inputs and other lifesaving relief assistance.
The committed resource includes the recently announced additional £40 million by DFID.
Announcing the additional boost which brings the total contribution by the Government of the UK to £55.6 million, Annabel Gerry Head of DFID Zimbabwe said, “The additional support from DFID will provide mobile cash payments to 360,000 vulnerable people up until end of March 2017; cover the cost of screening of 160,000 children for malnutrition; and the cost of treatment for over 12,000 children.”
The ongoing relief response has also been made possible by the generous contributions from USAID, EU-ECHO, the Netherlands, Japan, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland and Denmark. The BRICS nations and others have also supported the relief efforts, including bilateral contributions from China, India and Brazil.
Expressing deep gratitude and appreciation for the generous support from donors, the UN Resident Coordinator said, “sectors such as water, hygiene, and sanitation; education; and protection remain severely underfunded, threatening the country’s hard-won development gains made in these areas over the years.”
The fourth national multi-stakeholder consultative meeting underlined the importance of the drought response to be consistently guided by the universal humanitarian principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality, and independence.
Senior Principal Director, Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr. O. E. M. Hove said, “Government has made all efforts to import and set a buffer stock of maize to ensure that no citizen starves irrespective of one’s political or other affiliations.” Mr. Hove appreciated the generous support from humanitarian and development partners that are complementing Government’s efforts in response to the prevailing humanitarian challenges and called on all partners to stay the course.
Noting the need to continue and increase joint response to the pressing effects of the worst drought, stakeholders agreed to recalibrate their efforts towards resilience-building, provision of quality social services and protection programmes to ensure strong linkages and eventual transition of those affected by drought to recovery, medium and long-term sustainable development.
Reiterating on the call to planning for the future with focus on building resilience, Mr. Hove said, “to this end the Government of Zimbabwe is implementing a special programme to ensure food security targeting to produce at least two million metric tonnes of maize grain on 400,000ha of which 200,000ha will be irrigated.”
Today’s national multi-stakeholders consultative meeting follows two successful Provincial Drought Response Consultative meetings held in Bulawayo and Harare at the end of September and beginning of November, respectively. The provincial meetings allowed partners to adopt harmonized relief response approach across the Government, UN and NGOs managed assistance for improved targeting, registration, distribution, monitoring and accountability.
Media Contact: Sirak Gebrehiwot, UN Communications Specialist, E-mail: sirak.gebrehiwot@one.un.org;
Cell #: +263 772 198 036





KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, November 15, 2016 – Fleurette Group notes the statement made by Global Witness today concerning the sale of royalties from Katanga’s KCC project by Gecamines to a Fleurette-owned entity. The Global Witness statement is highly misleading, based on factually inaccurate information designed to manipulate data in an effort to undermine a legitimate transaction.
Fleurette Group categorically refutes the allegations by Global Witness that the DRC economy has somehow lost money through the sale of the KCC royalty stream. The transaction between Africa Horizons Investment Limited (“AHIL” – which is a 100% Fleurette subsidiary) and Gécamines. With hindsight, Gécamines negotiated a highly lucrative transaction to the benefit of the DRC.
Additionally, Global Witness’s financial calculations are amateurish to the point of bogus. They do not follow even the basic valuation techniques used by all professionals in this field, and fail to include further discounts (such as withholding tax payments) that are both obvious and important. Global Witness has no excuse for making these mistakes. The manipulation of data seems wilful in nature, and designed to support a pre-ordained conclusion. It is difficult not to infer that Global Witness is trying to mislead journalists, the general public and other stakeholders at Fleurette’s expense.
DRC made net profit from deal, Fleurette a net loss
The transaction ultimately resulted in Gecamines safeguarding value for the DRC economy and Fleurette making a considerable loss due to the subsequent collapse in commodity prices and suspension of KCC’s operations. This is because Gecamines sold the royalty right before operations at KCC were suspended, meaning Fleurette had paid in full for a royalty stream that that ceased soon afterwards. While Fleurette was left unable to recoup its investment, Gecamines received full value for it.
This should not come as a surprise. Fleurette recognizes this as inherent industry risk in the mining sector. KCC, meanwhile, was well advised. It carried out its own verification, taking reasonable measures in accordance with its procedures to satisfy itself the sale was authorized by Gecamines and that there was an underlying basis for the sale. Independent international financial institutions advised both sides, and the transaction was priced in accordance with the valuations provided to the parties. Global Witness does not acknowledge these facts. Instead, despite these facts, it attempts to crititicize a deal which demonstrably and unequivocally benefited both Gecamines and the DRC.
Global Witness mistakes
Global Witness’ statement implies that KCC royalties were worth $880m to Fleurette. By referencing the Independent Technical Report of March 2012 prepared by Golder Associates, Global Witness was duty bound to provide an accounting and valuation in a bona fide manner, which they did not. Global Witness’ implication that the royalties were worth $880m shows a lack of understanding of the most basic business and accounting principles of Discounted Cash Flow and Net Present Value, used to value royalty streams (as well as a host of other assets that are expected to provide value into the future).
Even though Golder Associates provide a very conservative 10% discount factor to their valuation of the KCC project (including royalty cashflow streams they expected to be generated), Global Witness applied 0% discount when expressing the worth of the royalty stream in their statement. If they had applied an industry-standard 15% discount factor, the cashflow they misleadingly referred to would have determined a $245m valuation for the royalty right until 2030.
There is another valuation factor that Global Witness has omitted entirely, even though it hugely impacts the assessment of value for the KCC Royalty. Crucially, AHIL’s royalty right will almost certainly fall away in on 1 March 2019. As per the terms of the original KCC JV Agreement between Katanga, Gecamines and KCC (all publicly available), Gecamines has a “Replacement Reserves” obligation which requires it to deliver 4m tonnes of copper reserves and 200,000 tonnes of cobalt to KCC. If it doesn’t, under the terms of the agreement, Gecamines needs to pay $285 million to compensate KCC. If it is not able to do that, the JV Agreement requires the repayment to be made by way of set-off of the royalty, ie KCC will withhold the royalty until that debt has been paid. In short, the royalty that Fleurette paid for will not be paid to Fleurette from 1st March (assuming KCC is back in operation and paying royalties), but will be used to cover off a pre-existing Gecamines debt.
Global Witness also intentionally omitted the annual rental deduction of $1.2m from their calculation and 10% withholding tax on royalties.
Questions for Global Witness
Unfortunately for AHIL and KCC, the project ceased production in September 2015. AHIL does therefore not expect to receive any more royalties, and will have suffered a huge loss as a result – as royalties paid up to this point were far less than the amount AHIL paid for the royalties. This is an example of how industry risk can play a major part in the life of a DRC project in addition to the broader risks associated with operating in a country like the DRC.
Global Witness needs to be held to account on this occasion given the unnecessary damage this misleading report will do to the DRC’s extremely delicate economy and the reputation of Gecamines as well as Fleurette, which is leading the recovery effort following the collapse of global commodity prices. In essence, this was a good deal by Gecamines, independently verified by multiple stakeholders, which safeguarded value for the DRC, but a poor deal for Fleurette. It is deeply regrettable Global Witness is publishing such inaccurate information.
-Ends-

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About Fleurette – http://www.fleurettegroup.com / LinkedIn / Twitter
The Fleurette Group of Companies (“Fleurette”) is an entrepreneurial business with significant investment in diverse sectors, including natural resources, infrastructure, agriculture and technology. Fleurette has substantial investments and operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The parent company of the group, Fleurette Properties Limited, a Dutch resident company, is owned by Line Trust Corporation Limited strictly and solely as trustees of the Ashdale Settlement, a trust established in 2006 for the benefit of the family of Dan Gertler. Mr Gertler is a citizen and resident of Israel and the DRC (and honorary counsel to the DRC) and is committed to developing the country’s natural resources and infrastructure, while investing in the Congolese people and their communities.
Fleurette has a proven track record of successful co-operation with diverse parties, including the DRC State-owned mining company Gécamines, and to date has brought more than USD $7 billion of investment into the DRC, on top of its USD $2 billion in private investment. As a result, Fleurette’s subsidiaries and partnerships support around 30,000 jobs in the DRC and are amongst the DRC’s leading taxpayers, contributing significant revenues to the State.
Fleurette is also a major contributor to social development in the DRC through the Gertler Family Foundation (GFF) and through direct investment in social infrastructure. The GFF is the largest charitable organization in the DRC, funding more than 50 programs and projects across the DRC, which help tens of thousands of Congolese every year. These include rebuilding key hospitals, notably the Kisangini “Hospital du Cinquantenaire”; supporting the Operation Smile campaign in Lubumbashi and Kinshasa; rebuilding Blaise Pascal School in Lubumbashi; and supporting the Lubumbashi Zoo.



This follows Zimbabwe’s full settlement of all of its overdue financial obligations to the PRGT of SDR 78.3 million (about US$107.9 million) on October 20, 2016.
WASHINGTON D.C., United States of America, November 15, 2016 – The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved today, on a lapse of time basis,[1] the removal of the remedial measures applied to Zimbabwe that had been in place because of the member’s overdue financial obligations to the Poverty Reduction and Growth Trust (PRGT), effective November 14, 2016. These measures are: (i) declaration of noncooperation with the IMF (see Press Release No. 02/28); (ii) the suspension of technical assistance (which had already been partially lifted, see Press release No. 09/152 and Press Release No. 12/405); and (iii) the removal of Zimbabwe from the list of PRGT-eligible countries (see Press Release No. 01/40).
This follows Zimbabwe’s full settlement of all of its overdue financial obligations to the PRGT of SDR 78.3 million (about US$107.9 million) on October 20, 2016 (see Statement by IMF on Zimbabwe). Zimbabwe had been in continuous arrears to the PRGT since February 2001 and was the only case of protracted arrears to the PRGT. Zimbabwe is now current on all of its financial obligations to the IMF.
Notwithstanding the settlement of overdue financial obligations to the PRGT and the removal of remedial measures, consideration of any future request for IMF financing would also require Zimbabwe to comply with other applicable IMF policies, including to: (i) resolve its arrears to multilateral creditors (including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank, and other multilateral institutions), bilateral official creditors, and external private creditors (if any); and (ii) implement strong fiscal adjustment and structural reforms to restore fiscal and debt sustainability and foster private sector development.
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[1]The Executive Board takes decisions under its lapse of time procedure when it is agreed by the Board that a proposal can be considered without convening formal discussions.
