Is the Chinese presence in Congo Brazzaville a threat to ‘first occupants’ or a relief to them?

Local NGOs in the Congo say that Chinese companies do not respect the environment and Indigenous peoples’ rights

Originally published on Global Voices

The Central African region, also known as the Congo Basin, is the largest rainforest on the continent with 300 million hectares, making it the world’s second largest rainforest after the Amazon. It is home to many Indigenous peoples whose names vary depending on the country or sub-region they live in. Many of these people rely on the forest’s products to support their traditional ways of life.

Some of these Indigenous groups who occupy the forests of countries such as the DRC, Gabon, Angola, Rwanda, and the Congo, have not come into direct contact with foreigners but rather have done so through the Bantus (an Ethnolinguistic group some 350 million strong who occupy parts of Sub-Saharan Africa) or other communities who live in villages bordering the forests. Other Indigenous peoples live inside the forests but work in or near surrounding villages, returning to the forest after work. 

The Indigenous peoples, initially dubbed “pygmies” at the end of the 19th century, have seen this name banned by the government of the Republic of Congo, which considers the name “pygmee” to be pejorative, with a connotation that is both negative and degrading towards these first occupants of the sub-region. 

While Indigenous families often live in forests or their surroundings, as the NGO Association pour le Respect des Peuples Authoctones, du Développement Durable et des Droits de l'homme (APRA2DH) said in an interview with Global Voices, their way of life is under threat. The Republic of Congo has awarded licenses for logging to some Chinese who have accelerated deforestation, and according to research from Mongabay, this is putting these groups’ traditions and way of life at risk. 

The decline of the forest, following extractive work, deforestation, agricultural expansion, illegal logging, and other activities in the forest areas of Congo, is shrinking the habitat of Indigenous peoples.

This reduction in forest areas has also taken away Indigenous peoples’ ability to apply their traditional knowledge on environmental protection, leading to further harm to the forest. Their skills are being thwarted in the face of the over-industrialized production and extraction, especially in recent days.

In Congo, as in other African countries, relations with China are at their zenith, driven by a series of projects known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), Beijing’s large-scale international investment and connectivity plan. China has made inroads in diplomatic cooperation, mining, investment, construction, and many other fields in Africa. It is difficult to estimate how many projects or investments China has launched in the Congolese Republic, but China’s presence in this country of 6.2 million dates back to the years when most African countries were gaining independence.

China in the Republic of Congo

With relations dating back to the 1960s, China has become one of the Republic of Congo’s main diplomatic and economic partners. According to the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Congo government, Jean-Claude Gakosso, trade between the two countries reached USD 6.57 billion in 2023. 

In Congo Brazzaville, Chinese companies are particularly interested in agriculture, minerals, wood, and also in digital technology.

However, civil society rights groups in the region have bemoaned the Congolese Government’s failure to implement regulations or guardrails to protect local people, as noted by Blanchard Cherotti Mavoungou in an interview with RFI. He added that Chinese companies are often not monitored or regulated, leading to negative consequences for Indigenous groups, as some have been expelled from their own lands. 

Cooperatives created by Bantus and other partners, including Chinese nationals, have been able to provide work to the Indigenous peoples of this country, thus helping them make a living as their traditional way of life disappears. But at some levels, Indigenous peoples remain second-class citizens, and are treated like sub-humans or slaves or even “pets.”

It is rare to read in the Chinese media about how Chinese companies reconcile their interests with those of Indigenous peoples in Africa. Congolese media reported on  September 9 that a prominent local figure in Bolomba, Equateur Province, had asked the Congolese government to confiscate more than 3,000 cubic meters of timber belonging to two Chinese companies because the Chinese had harvested it without a logging permit.

One of the companies involved in the logging is the Wanpong Group (万蓬集团) from China. The vision on the front page of the company’s official website reads: “Wanpong is the Chinese company that knows Africa best.”

Honey and other natural products

While some Indigenous peoples have agreed to leave the forests to live in cities or villages bordering their forests, these first occupants are reluctant about practices that do not correspond to their traditional way of life and strain their families in the bush. 

The division of tasks among Indigenous peoples means that traditionally, men and often children become active in collecting honey and hunting, while women remain active in gathering and transporting the products of the gathering.

In recent years, an unusual movement has emerged among the communities of Indigenous peoples in Congo, namely their return to the depths of the forest. While China has just invested in the industrialization of honey production, the Congolese Government welcomes this initiative, which will undoubtedly, according to China and the Congolese Government, bring foreign currency into the state coffers, although the expected figures are not clear.

A press release from the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Congo said that China donated supplies to local honey cooperatives and will strengthen its cooperation with the Congo in poverty reduction and agricultural benefits, as well as green development in the future. However, there was no mention of how co-development would be carried out in consideration of the rights and interests of the local Indigenous population.

While honey remains an essential element in the lives of Indigenous families and at the same time an exportable product prized by local and foreign consumers, defenders of Indigenous peoples’ rights see it rather as a malicious way of driving the Indigenous peoples from their places and erasing their know-how in collecting honey from forest trees.

Maixent Animba Emeka, a member of the Forum for Governance and Human Rights and a defender of autochthones families, said in an interview with RFI: 

Honey is one of the primary sources of protein for indigenous peoples and one of the economic sources for them. But, they exploit it rationally, in reasonable and sustainable quantities.

He went on to say that, when you come to do industrial harvesting systems, you can create scarcity in the forest, and therefore affect the livelihoods of Indigenous peoples and reinforce their poverty.

Emeka said that autochthones are known for their traditional technique of climbing tall trees and chasing bees with non-toxic smoke before extracting honey, fearing that this practice could disappear. 

Anger from rights groups

Displeased by the Congolese government’s openness to Chinese operators, local NGOs have claimed that some Chinese companies do not respect the environment and the rights of Indigenous peoples. 

Blanchard Cherotti Mavoungou, president of ARPA2DH, is sounding the alarm:

Indigenous populations do not benefit from the agreements signed between Congo and various partners, including China. On the contrary, if these companies come, they are in complicity with certain authorities, such as in the mining sector. These companies do not carry out environmental and social impact studies. Indigenous populations are not taken into account.

The rights group leader believes that there is no respect for what is written in the specifications because there is no follow-up. “Our Indigenous populations are set aside, and Indigenous people do not benefit from relations between China and the Congolese government,” he continued. 

It is this situation that makes the natives decide to take refuge in the forests. However, they are the first protectors of forests because of their traditional know-how against climate change. There is also often a lack of compensation for the natives, who are chased away from their lands and homes, like in the north of Congo, for example, where natives are chased away to extract gold.