Congolese civil society petitions IMF [The Morning Call]

Congolese civil society groups have asked the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to end its dealings with the National Petroleum Company of the Congo (SNPC).

In a letter filed on the 3rd of September the civil society groups in the country estimated that these two entities have favored an increase in the Congolese debt which exceeds 120% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

It says “If the IMF obtained the dissolution of Cotrade, a subsidiary of the SNPC, it can also demand and obtain the dissolution of the SNPC and the major works”.

The groups allege that the management of Congolese oil by the SNPC remains totally opaque. According to the Executive Director of the Congolese Human Rights Observatory (OCDH), Trésor Nzila, the IMF had to involve members of civil society in negotiations with the government.

This he says is due to the Congolese government’s poor handlings of previous projects with the IMF.