On the Banks of the Furious Congo River, a 5-Star Emporium of Ambition

December 07, 2021
Business

A handful of those traditional investors remain in Congo, including Robert Friedland, founder of Vancouver, B.C.-based Ivanhoe Mines. But Ivanhoe’s operations are now in large part financed by Chinese investors, who dominate the industrial mining sector in Congo.

“You don’t have a lot of these Fortune 500 mining companies,” said Luc Gerard Nyafé, a regular at the Fleuve who advises the Congolese president and is pursuing mining interests here. “That is something that needs to change.”

But for now, at least, the adventurers have taken center stage, and sometimes their ambitions converge at the Fleuve. Ambassadors, mercenaries, celebrities, musicians, athletes, entrepreneurs — they all pass through.

One morning a red carpet was rolled out for a delegation arriving a few hours ahead of the president of Kenya. Hotel workers quickly replaced it with a fancier carpet when they learned the Congolese president was coming too.

Flanked by a dozen men, President Felix Tshisekedi of Congo made his way into the hotel and up a set of stairs. Witnessing the entourage from the lobby was Pascal Rufi, a French businessman who owns a logistics company in Nigeria that provides assistance to war-torn areas there.

Now, he sensed a new business opportunity. A longtime friend was an aide to Mr. Tshisekedi, so he had come to the Fleuve to try to get in on the action.

“First copper,” Mr. Rufi said, explaining his interests, “and then cobalt.”