"George Forrest Smoothes Way for Areva George Forrest, the “king maker” of Congolese mining, played a key role in negotiating the uranium exploration and mining agreement signed by Anne Lauvergeon, the head of Areva, on March 26 in Kinshasa. The boss of the French nuclear energy group arrived on her own private plane an hour before the French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who was on an official visit. Forrest, an entrepreneur from Belgium who holds several passports, is the honorary French consul in DRC. His group, George Forrest International (GFI), has been an operator in the Congolese mining industry for a long time, particularly in Katanga. The Areva contract had been under negotiation for two years. Lauvergeon discussed the subject with president Joseph Kabila when he was in Paris last year. Also, a local subsidiary, Tsongaye, was set up in 2008 with Zéphirin Diabré as chairman. The deal signed on March 26 covers the old Shinkolobwe uranium mine near Likasi in Katanga province. Up to now Shinkolobwe was covered by the state’s monopoly over uranium exploitation. Under the deal, Areva will work with Gecamines, the national copper company headed by Paul Fortin, whose inner workings GFI knows well. Areva will also review the entire country’s uranium potential. Forrest has forged considerable links with the Elysée Palace, home to the French presidency, in recent years. The businessman, who has contacts in the presidential palace, has become very close to Patrick Balkany, the mayor of Paris suburb Levallois-Perret and a personal friend of Sarkozy. Balkany was on the French president’s official visit on March 26 and took advantage of the opportunity to meet with Forrest. Last year, it was George Forrest who “facilitated” the signature of an agreement amending the mining convention for UraMin CAR Ltd, a subsidiary of Areva, to mine uranium at Bakouma in the Central African Republic. Forrest was assisted for the task by someone close to Balkany and by Fabien Singaye (special advisor to François Bozizé, president of the Central African Republic) who was also present during Sarkozy’s visit to Kinshasa last week. Forrest and Singaye are also business partners. They have just bought the gold company Aurafrique in Bangui". http://www.africaintelligence.com/AMA/detail/...;codeaffilie=a_indigo |
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