Pretoria, Kinshasa sign US $10 billion accord

//ATTENTION readers. This story corrects item "Pretoria, Kinshasa sign bilateral accord" moved 15 January, 2004.// South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed a bilateral agreement worth US $10 billion on Wednesday, covering the areas of defence and security, the economy and finance, agriculture and infrastructural development. Presidents Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Joseph Kabila signed the deal in the Congolese capital, Kinshasa, at the end of Mbeki's first state visit to the Congo. A joint commission of the two governments has been tasked with implementing the agreement. "The commission's first meeting has already been set for February in South Africa over which my colleague Kabila will preside," Mbeki told reporters in Kinshasa. One of the aspects of the bilateral accord requires the South African Chamber of Commerce to rehabilitate the Congo's giant Gecamines mining concern, the 39th concession of the Kilomoto Gold Mines, and for the management of Kinshasa's Grand Hotel as well as Hotel Karavia in Lubumbashi, the minister responsible for state-owned firms, Joseph Mudumbi, said. Congo, potentially one of the richest countries in Africa, has vast deposits of gold, diamonds, copper, uranium, coltan and other minerals. However, these resources have remained under exploited due to the country's instability and mismanagement during the rule of President Mobutu Sese Seko. The mining sector collapsed completely as the country slid into war in 1998 in which some 3.3 million people died. In a bid to halt such tragedies and lead Africa’s renaissance, South Africa was pivotal in facilitating an all-inclusive agreement reached in 2003 among Congo's warring factions. In their final communiqué, Mbeki and Kabila reaffirmed their support for the upcoming peace and development conference for the Great Lakes.