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RR RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBZ #0037/01 0342201
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 032201Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1718
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0544
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0076
RUEHCP/AMEMBASSY COPENHAGEN 0002
RUEHBZ/AMEMBASSY BRAZZAVILLE 2148

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRAZZAVILLE 000037 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EFIN PGOV PREL CF
SUBJECT: BRAZZAVILLE IN BRIEF, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 
 
BRAZZAVILL 00000037  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 
 
--Congo Achieves Debt Relief 
 
--Chevron Employees Released 
 
--Brazzaville Hosts Two Conferences 
 
--CEMAC - What's This About a New Airline? 
 
--Hydropower Comes to Brazzaville 
 
--Congo Plans for Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration 
 
 
 
 
 
Congo Achieves Debt Relief 
 
----------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) Christmas came late to Congo, as the World Bank and IMF 
announced January 28 that Congo(B) had achieved HIPC "completion 
point," a significant step toward debt relief for the country. 
According to the IMF and World Bank, the decision will generate 
total debt service savings of USD 1.9 billion, including USD 1.7 
billion from the Enhanced HIPC countries and USD 201.3 million 
from the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative.   This represents 
President Sassou's top policy objective since his reelection in 
July 2009, and he asked the IMF to delay its public announcement 
long enough for him to make the announcement to his cabinet 
earlier the same day. The next step in the debt relief process 
will be a formal review of Congo's debt by the Paris Club. 
 
 
 
¶2. (SBU) IMF mission chief for the Congo Robert York noted in 
the IMF's public statement that it will be important for Congo 
to "maintain a sustainable external and domestic debt position 
through careful borrowing and prudent fiscal policy." In theory, 
this should not be difficult for oil-producing Congo, which is 
setting aside USD 3.1 billion or half of its 2010 anticipated 
revenue toward future needs rather than spend it this year. 
This also may be a reference to anticipated public pressure to 
spend:   Several public service unions are pressing the 
government to revise the "social truce" that has been in effect 
since the HIPC discussion started and which has limited public 
sector salary increases.  Most observers assume that pay hikes 
will come - that it is simply a question of how much and when. 
 
 
 
¶3. (SBU) The performance of Sassou's government should now be 
measured, in part, by the extent to which it follows through on 
reforms undertaken at the behest of the World Bank and IMF in 
order to achieve debt relief. The most important of these were 
intended to improve the transparency of Congo's oil sector, and 
resulted in the first successful audit of oil revenues, as well 
as the implementation of new accounting systems and auditing 
standards. Congo also standardized the process through which it 
sells oil (and closed Cotrade, which previously existed as a 
ssubsidiary of the national oil company for the sole purpose of 
selling oil, and was headed by President Sassou's son). There 
were also important reforms to combat corruption (an 
anti-corruption commission was created) as well as in government 
procurement, the forestry sector, and the education sector. 
(Note: In its report, the IMF accepted at face value the 
government's previous practice of selling oil through 
intermediaries, which the government claims was necessary to 
hide revenues from vulture funds, but left the door open to 
significant diversion of funds. These practices have now ended 
as a result of the reforms undertaken during the HIPC process, 
but it will be critical to watch the extent to which the 
government follows the new procedures. End note.) 
 
 
 
Chevron Employees Released 
 
------------------------------- 
 
 
 
 
BRAZZAVILL 00000037  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶4. (SBU) Following the discovery of a theft of USD 10 million 
from its downstream gasoline/diesel retail operation (a dozen or 
so gas stations previously operated under the Texaco logo in 
Congo, recently sold to the Congolese national oil company), 
there is a nasty fight under way between Chevron and 
French-owned BCI bank over the matter.  According to Chevron, 
several of its former employees were involved in the fraud and 
Chevron believes that there is a strong possibility of collusion 
by BCI employees, since 22 of 24 of the fraudulent transactions 
involved went through BCI bank, including one in which an 
individual was allowed to cash a Chevron check for around USD 
$250,000, leaving the bank with the money in a suitcase. 
Chevron contacted authorities in Pointe-Noire, who began an 
enthusiastic investigation of the case, resulting in three 
arrests and the identification of another suspect believed to 
have fled the country. 
 
 
 
¶5. (SBU) However, for reasons that are not clear to us, BCI 
approached prosecutors in Brazzaville, who opened a competing 
investigation with a completely different narrative, i.e. that 
BCI was wronged by false accusations by Chevron.  Net result: 
at the behest of BCI, the Chevron employees who uncovered the 
fraud were jailed in December by the Brazzaville court. 
(Comment: That's right, the good guys, according to Chevron, who 
were not even employed in the Congo during the entire period of 
the thefts. End comment.) 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) Last week, these two employees (one Mauritian and the 
other Franco-Mauritian)  were released on a bail of USD 250,000 
(posted by Chevron) following the visit of a special envoy from 
the Prime Minister of Mauritius.  Chevron is in crisis response 
mode and has sent a team here from corporate headquarters, 
security and the regional office of Chevron downstream to try to 
get the distressed two employees out of the country and back to 
their families as quickly as possible. Congo's judiciary is 
reported to be in the process of identifying a senior judge to 
take over the two competing cases, which should help resolve the 
legal struggle between Chevron and BCI. (Comment: Since the 
national oil company now owns the former Texaco operation - and 
is satisfied with the terms of its acquisition - it is not clear 
what BCI gains from a protracted legal battle, but it will 
likely take some more time to untangle all of the judicial and 
political angles to this case. End comment. ) 
 
 
 
Brazzaville Hosts Two Conferences 
 
------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶7. (U) Brazzaville is the location for two conferences of note 
in February. From February 2-4 COMIFAC (Commission for Central 
African Forests) and the FAO are co-hosting a conference on 
carbon monitoring in the Congo basin. American NGO Wildlife 
Conservation Society (WCS), which has a large program in Congo 
funded in part by USAID and US Fish and Wildlife, has sent a 
team of experts to discuss measurement and protection of carbon 
stocks. Over 150 participants from around the world are slated 
to attend the conference. American organizations sending 
representatives include USAID, the US Forest Service, NASA, the 
Woods Hole Research Center, the University of Maryland, UCLA, 
South Dakota State University, WCS, and WWF. 
 
 
 
¶8. (U) From February 15-17, USAID and WHO/AFRO (which is 
headquartered in Brazzaville) will be meeting to discuss an 
emerging pandemic threats (EPT) program funded by USAID. WCS, 
which has received funding from USAID to study linkages between 
human and animal diseases, will also participate in this 
program. 
 
 
 
CEMAC - What's This About a New Airline? 
 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Bangui meeting of Central African Economic Monetary 
Community (CEMAC) January 15-17 was notable in Brazzaville for 
 
BRAZZAVILL 00000037  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
several reasons, not least that President Sassou assumed the 
rotating presidency from CAR President Bozize.  Congolese media 
also noted the growing economic and political influence of 
Equatorial Guinea, which will assume the governorship of Central 
African Bank (BEAC) for the next five years. Perhaps most 
notable for general audiences, however, was the proposal for 
CEMAC to create a regional airline in partnership with South 
African Airways (SAA). CEMAC officials hope that the airline 
will operate five planes and serve as a link between central 
African states, which are currently somewhat cut off from each 
other due to a lack of transportation options. (Note: CEMAC 
representatives here in Brazzaville confirmed that SAA would 
have an ownership stake in the airline, but we would want to see 
further confirmation of this agreement before putting too much 
stock in it; SAA does not have an office in Brazzaville. End 
note.) 
 
 
 
¶10. (SBU) Comment: While it is certainly true that air travel 
between the capitals of central African states is a challenge, 
CEMAC officials would be well advised not to forget Air Afrique, 
which existed to provide a link between African countries but 
was not commercially viable and went bankrupt in the 1990s. We 
note also that though the airline is supposed to be 
headquartered in Brazzaville, there are also supposed to be two 
"important offices" in Libreville and Yaounde, which looks a lot 
like an enterprise that will be run politically, not 
economically.  End comment. 
 
 
 
Hydropower Comes to Brazzaville 
 
----------------------------------- 
 
 
 
¶11. (U) President Sassou cut the symbolic ribbon January 27 on a 
$280 million hydroelectric dam at Imboulou, 200 kilometers north 
of Brazzaville on the Lefini River, a tributary of the Congo 
River. The first 30 megawatt turbine out of four (for a total 
capacity of 120 megawatts) has just been completed after five 
years of work. The $280 million project is fully financed and 
constructed by China and is expected to be completed in 2015. 
The government hopes that the first electrical power generated 
by the dam will reach Brazzaville by March 2010; the power 
transmission line remains to be completed. 
 
 
 
Congo Plans for Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
 
 
¶12. (U) Congo will celebrate fifty years of independence on 
August 15, 2010, and President Sassou has appointed a 
hundred-person commission to organize the event. Minister of 
State for Basic Infrastructure Isidor Mvouba will chair the 
commission and its ten sub-commissions. (Comment: We anticipate 
that the government, flush with oil money and having just 
achieved debt relief, will put a lot of resources into the 
celebration. President Sassou will also use the next six months 
to highlight projects - such as the hydroelectric dam - that 
demonstrate development undertaken under his watch. If the 
independence celebration is anything like the inauguration, 
members of the commission will compete heavily with one another 
in order to demonstrate their loyalty.  It'll certainly be a big 
show.  End comment.) 
EASTHAM