Cablegate: Tanganyika District Administrator Seeks Investment

VZCZCXRO1768
PP RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMR
DE RUEHKI #1094/01 1881040
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071040Z JUL 06
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4331
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RHMFISS/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
RUFOADA/JAC MOLESWORTH RAF MOLESWORTH UK

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001094

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SENSITIVE
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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

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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.

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