China-DRC: Resource-for-Infrastructure Deal

The China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies published in May 2018 a study titled "The Risks and Rewards of Resource-for-Infrastructure Deals: Lessons from the Congo's Sicomines Agreement" by David G. Landry, researcher and consultant.

The Sicomines resource-for-infrastructure agreement signed by the Democratic Republic of the Congo and China in 2007 outlined a mammoth deal worth over $9 billion. It was subsequently scaled back considerably but has remained highly contentious. This paper explores the agreement and highlights the role risk has played from its inception until now. The author concludes that the deal has become much less lucrative for China, largely due to the downward reevaluation of the copper mine's estimated deposits, the downward spiral in copper prices, the the delays and setbacks that have plagued the operations.

CARI also published a policy brief with the same title.