Benoît de Carbonnieres, Regional Manager, Rawbank

MACIG Connect Series

Rawbank has grown rapidly since it began business in 2002 to become one of the largest banks in DRC and has an active participation with the mining sector.

Rawbank is celebrating its 15th year since it began in DRC in 2002. Can you give me a brief history of Rawbank, including any recent milestones the company has achieved?

We have been operating in the Grand Katanga (formerly Katanga zone) for 10 years and have since become the largest bank in terms of market share operating in DRC with a balance sheet of over $1 billion. The bank started by developing in three main markets: retail, corporate and private banking. The level of banking among the population was very low so Rawbank was interested to develop the retail and corporate market to increase the entrepreneurial spirit of the people and develop the economy. Due to the development of these two markets the private banking market also increased as a different economical class of people was created that wanted a banking product that effectively represented their standard of life. Foreign investments are also important in DRC, so Rawbank has developed the profiles of our employees to include English and Chinese speaking staff to target the clients currently investing in the country. Going forward, the growth strategy of Rawbank is to become the main bank responsible for international investments in DRC.

How important is the mining sector as a client to Rawbank and what role do you see the company playing in the sector in the future?

Louis Watum, Managing Director, Ivanhoe Mines DRC Operations

MACIG Connect Series

Ivanhoe Mines describe the challenges and opportunities facing international investors in the DRC.

Could you please give us some insight into Ivanhoe Mines’ strategy for success in DRC and what we should expect from the company in 2018?

Ivanhoe Mines has been in DRC for over 10 years now, and exploration has been a main activity. Thanks to an exceptionally talented and disciplined team of geologists the Kamoa copper deposit was discovered by Ivanhoe Mines in 2008. Later in early 2016, Ivanhoe Mines discovered the Kakula deposit approximately 10 km south-west of the Kamoa deposit, making the combined discoveries together to be ranked the world’s largest, undeveloped, high-grade copper discovery ever made. We are now exploring Kakula West, which is also very promising in terms of its near-surface source of high-grade copper mineralization that could be incorporated into the early years of the Kamoa-Kakula mine plan.

We remain focused in expediting the development of the initial Kakula mine whilst unlocking the full potential of the Kamoa-Kakula copper district. We have already sank twin declines to reach the ore at Kansoko mine at our initial Kamoa copper discovery and are now fast tracking the development of Kakula mine with sinking of twin declines currently underway, pre-feasibility study in progress, and surface infrastructure construction due to start in 2018.

How does Ivanhoe Mines mitigate the risks of exploring in a country with a risk profile like the DRC to find something as successful as Kamoa?

MACIG Pre-Release Report 2016

Kings of Copper Part 2: An exclusive look at investing in DRC and Zambia (Dual Cover Edition).

Country: DRC & Zambia • Industry: Mining • Publication: Pre-Release • Release Date: October 2015 • Authors: Molly Concannon and Nathan Allen.

The Central African Copperbelt is home to one of the world’s largest copper and cobalt resources. The 450-kilometer strip extends from Zambia’s Copperbelt province through the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) mineral-rich Katanga province. While the geological wealth of both nations is beyond doubt, there are

Michel Losembe, CEO, BIAC

MACIG Connect Series

Since its inception in the 1970s, BIAC has grown to become one of the DRC’s largest banks. How has the institution evolved over the years?

Michel Losembe (ML): BIAC started off life as BIAZ, Banque Internationale d’Afrique au Zaire. It was a subsidiary of a state-owned French bank, Banque Internationale pour Afrique de l’Ouest

Power Supply in the Copperbelt: Simply Not Enough

Severe problems with distribution infrastructure also render the power supply unreliable.

Nathan Allen

The Congo River has the potential to generate enough electrical energy to supply the whole of Southern Africa. Yet, only a fraction of this immense force has been harnessed. Today, it is almost universally acknowledged that the biggest setback to industrial growth in the DRC is the lack of reliable power supply.

Doing Business in the DRC

Becoming the 17th member state of OHADA in 2012 was important first step.

Nathan Allen

Many investors are wary of entering a country infamous for bureaucracy and corruption. Regulations are often unclear, the political situation is in a state of uncertainty and, admittedly, one still hears of payments going astray and draconian fines being levied for trumped up technicalities. Nevertheless, several reforms instituted over the past few years have helped bring more formality to the DRC.

Chetan Chug, Chairman, Somika

Since 2011, Somika has also had its own mining operation, Kimin.

Somika was established in the DRC in 2001, before most other foreign mining houses entered. How has the company grown since that time?

Chetan Chug (CC): I have been in Congo since 1990. In the early days, my business was more focused on trading soft commodities. When the mining code was introduced in 2001, allowing

Amaury Lescaux, Managing Director, Swedish Machinery & Trucks, R&D Congo

MACIG Connect Series

SMT is a Belgian company with operations in several countries. What is the importance of your DRC operations?

Amaury Lescaux (AL): The SMT group was founded in 2010 with its headquarters just outside of Brussels. The group was created out of the restructuring of a former company, ATC, which was also involved in the distribution of mining equipment and vehicles. We belong to the Belgian holding Société de Distribution Africaine (SDA). SMT’s business is split into three

MACIG Pre-Release Report 2016

Kings of Copper: An exclusive look at investing in DRC and Zambia.

Country: DRC & Zambia • Industry: Mining • Publication: Pre-Release • Release Date: May 2015 • Authors: Molly Concannon and Nathan Allen.

The Central African Copperbelt is home to one of the world’s largest copper and cobalt resources. The 450-kilometer strip extends from Zambia’s Copperbelt province through the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) mineral-rich Katanga province. While the geological wealth of both nations is beyond doubt, there are

Susa Maleba, DRC Country Manager, SRK Consulting

Diversification to non-mining activity helps SRK’s DRC office weather volatility in the mining industry.

SRK set up a permanent office in DRC in 2010; how has the business grown since that time?

Susa Maleba (SM): When SRK first established an office here in Lubumbashi, our main focus was on SRK South Africa’s existing clients in the DRC. We began with just four consultants and