Economic diversification: Qatar zooms in on Africa

KINSHASA: Qatar wants to reduce reliance on hydrocarbons which requires economic diversification. With limiting the opportunities at home, Doha has been on a investment spree across the globe. From sports — PSG being the prime example — to fashion, the Qatari investment is very much visible in Europe.

But Africa has seemingly now become a prime focus given the continent offers arable land, abundant labour, water resources, and critical minerals.

PSX surges 1,226 points to historic peak amid strong earnings, offtake

Meanwhile, this investment — through business entities, not government — in different parts of the world also increases Qatar’s political clout despite being small state.

Read more: Qatar brokers ceasefire between Iran, Israel on Trump’s request: NYT

Two other Gulf States — Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates — are also following a similar strategy. However, Riyadh has an advantage — the vast size of the kingdom which has enabled Crown Prince Mohmmed bin Salman to pursue his Vision 2030.

$21 BILLION FOR DRC

According to a latest AFP report, Qatari investment firm Al Mansour Holding hopes to invest $21 billion in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where Doha is mediating to end years of conflict in the east, the Congolese government announced Wednesday, says a AFP report.

Read more: US accepts Boeing jet from Qatar for use as Air Force One

Group founder and royal family member Sheikh Mansour bin Jabor bin Jassim Al Thani visited the DRC capital Kinshasa on Tuesday as part of an African tour.

The Qatari delegation presented a “letter of intent” for an investment of nearly $21 billion in the DRC during a meeting with Prime Minister Judith Suminwa, her office said in a statement.

It added that the investment would be in various sectors, including agriculture, finance, mining, pharmaceuticals and hydrocarbons.

Contacted by AFP, a Qatari official said Sheikh Mansour was visiting the DRC in his private capacity as a businessman.

$70 BILLION FOR FOUR OTHERS

Last month saw Al Mansour Holding pledge $70 billion in investments across four southern African countries during a 10-day tour.

The funding pledges to Botswana, Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe come as largely poor countries in the resource-rich region grapple with sweeping cuts in US aid since Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Fighting in the mineral-rich east of the DRC intensified early this year after the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched a lightning offensive, capturing two provincial capitals within a few weeks.

Diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis had failed until Qatar unexpectedly announced that Rwandan President Paul Kagame and his Congolese counterpart Felix Tshisekedi had met in Doha for talks in mid-March.

The two countries signed a peace agreement in June in Washington.

In parallel, the Congolese government and the M23 began talks, also in Doha, in April, committing in July to a ceasefire. However, clashes have continued on the ground.

Read more: Trump in Gulf: US, Qatar deals to generate $1.2tr in ‘economic exchange’

QATAR NATIONAL VISION 2030

This economic diversification drive during the past two decades or so is a product of the Qatar National Vision 2030.

Launched in 2008 by Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, who was heir apparent back then, focuses on four interconnected pillars to “build the homeland and the citizen”.

These four features are: Human Development, Social Development, Economic Development and Environmental Development.

And even an cursory look at the Qatari policies and investment in the past shows it follows the abovementioned four pillars.