More than 40 Chinese-run copper smelters are standing idle in the Democratic Republic of Congo after their owners fled the country without paying taxes or compensating staff at the end of the commodity boom, according to a governor.
Moïse Katumbi, governor of Katanga province, which is bisected by Congo's copper belt, said Chinese entrepreneurs abandoned their smelters in a matter of days in a co-ordinated move at the end of last year as copper prices tumbled.
Asked if they would be welcomed back if the price rebounded, he told the Financial Times: "No, no, no. Not as long as I am governor. Katanga is not a jungle. They worked as if it was a jungle."
Katanga's notoriously rough-and-tumble mining sector enjoyed a heady boom in recent years as commodity prices soared and foreigners rushed in to exploit its copper deposits. The Chinese entrepreneurs who came were part of their country's small-scale, private sector-led engagement with Africa.
This has occurred alongside, but not always in conjunction with, a state-driven effort to secure resources, which last year led to a $9bn minerals-for-infrastructure deal between China and Congo...