TANGANYIKA DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR SEEKS INVESTMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001094 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON EIND PGOV CG SUBJECT: TANGANYIKA DISTRICT ADMINISTRATOR SEEKS INVESTMENT ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a June 17 meeting with Poloff, Tanganyika District Administrator Jean Rigobert Tshimanga decried the underdevelopment of the giant Katanga district, which is bigger than either South Kivu or North Kivu province. He described the major challenges the district faces in improving its economic situation and outlined needed investments. End summary. No power, no port -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Tanganyika's first big problem is that the power plant in Bendera (100 km north of Kalemie),which should provide electricity to Lake Tanganyika communities and businesses, almost never runs. Societe Interlac, a state-owned company, needs a new turbine to make it function. The second major infrastructure problem for Kalemie, and Tanganyika province beyond, is the port, which the city depends on for everything -- transportation, community access, commerce. According to Tshimanga, the port is silted to the point where boats can no longer land. He said over 1500 cubic meters of sand must be removed to improve the situation. Tanganyika the Province -------------- ¶3. (SBU) The new DRC constitution, envisions increasing the number of provinces from 11 to 26. In this scheme, Tanganyika district would become a full province within three years. Tshimanga, a member of President Kabila's PPRD party with aspirations to the future governorship of his district, favors this change and called it a "good idea economically" for Tanganyika. He said that officials will no longer have to wait for budget and spending approval to come from Lubumbashi. Allowing that north Katanga is predominantly agricultural while south Katanga is driven by minerals, he noted that "the north nourishes the south." The north also has important mineral deposits of tin, coltan, and cassiterite, now exploited only by artisanal mining, near Manono. Tshimanga said he hopes Tanganyika the province will attract new and better development once elevated from its current status. A poverty mind-set -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Not only is infrastructure a problem, according to Tshimanga, so is the mind-set of the people. He said that SIPDIS the population of Tanganyika lacks any sense of management or industry and believes the only means of production is artisanal. The youth of the district think Lubumbashi is "the place to go" for money, so they leave Kalemie, and no one invests there. Agriculture, he said, is seen as a familial task, not a productive enterprise. Although large Belgian and Congolese companies owned commercial agricultural interests before the war, the people have always grown things (or fished) for themselves and worked for others. Tshimanga believes that for Tanganyika to be successful, agriculture must be seen as a vital industry, and agricultural workers must be esteemed at the level of other professions. The solution: Fish, among other things -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Tshimanga has three ideas for improving the economy of the district. First, Tanganyika must solicit commercial investment in fisheries. He said that there were Greek and multinational fisheries in Kalemie before the war, but the industry was destroyed. Boats, cold rooms, and transport are desperately needed to resume operations. He claims that Kalemie and Moba (150 km south of Kalemie) fisheries could feed the rest of Katanga and neighboring provinces and that the big fish in the deep waters of Lake Tanganyika are "dying of old age" without being caught. Second, Tshimanga would like to see an extension of Lubumbashi University to Kalemie, enabling the otherwise departing youth of the district to remain for their higher education. Finally, he stressed the importance of the rehabilitation of infrastructure, particularly electricity and roads. He explained that Kalemie, with its sandy beaches and oceanlike views, used to be a popular Congolese tourist destination. Infrastructure and security must be restored, he acknowledged, to revive it. ¶6. (SBU) Comment: District Administrator Tshimanga's ideas for how Tanganyika province can be economically rehabilitated have promise. However, only when the insecurity of the district (something he played down) is addressed, can any of these idea be implemented. End comment. KINSHASA 00001094 002 OF 002 MEECE