The future of IT & AI

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 In the not-so-distant future, the world of IT will have undergone a seismic shift. Gone were the days of traditional employment, where companies hires full-time employees to fill specific roles. Instead, the gig economy had taken over, and IT professionals will be embracing the freedom and flexibility that cames with freelancing. Companies had caught on to the benefits of project-based hiring, where they could tap into a global talent pool and scale up or down as needed. Job postings  floated online, and skilled freelancers would bid on projects that matches their expertise. Seasoned IT professionals, making the transition to freelancing in these  years, builds reputations on these  platforms like Toptal and Upwork, and their calendars will always be filled with exciting projects. Skilled  IT engineers helps big compernies to launch their new products. Their projects, some  complex, with tight deadlines, and the clients willing to pay top dollar for the ri...
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DRC: State-owned diamond company, MIBA, hopes to rebound

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DRC: State-owned diamond company, MIBA, hopes to rebound

Volume 90%
 
MIBA- the Bakwanga Mining Company remains a pale shadow of its former glory.  -  
Copyright © africanews
Photo captured from AFP video.
By Rédaction Africanews 

and AFP

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO

The city of Mbuji-Mayi, the capital of the Kasai-Oriental province in south-central DR Congo is once home to the country’s state diamond company, MIBA- the Bakwanga Mining Company.

Poor management, crumbling infrastructure, embezzlement and looting, especially during the two Great Congo Wars between 1997 and 2003, left MIBA crippled by debt and at the mercy of plummeting commodity prices.

The facility was closed at the height of the 2008 financial crisis.

From an annual output averaging six million carats, mainly of industrial diamonds, in the early 2000s, production was no more than 500,000 carats in 2008 and half that in 2011.

Despite a resumption of operations, a decade ago, the company is still a shadow of its former glory.

"Mining has resumed with a view to relaunching with the help of the government. Five million dollars, a payment that Gécamine gave to Miba. The mine is operational, exploitation is under way, but at a minimal level", said Raphael Mukadi Tshindundu, technical director of Miba.

That $5 million dollars was released in August last year by President Felix Tshisekedi, who hails from the Kasai region.

Managers of the facility say the inadequate capital injection was to help MIBA become profitable.

But buyers like Ilunga want to see much more from the government.

"If MIBA's activity had really resumed, we would have felt it, life would have resumed, money would flow. The government owes Miba a lot of money. It does not have the will to pay this debt. If they pay Miba, Kasai will be much better off", said Alphonse Ilunga, a diamond buyer.

Set up in 1961, MIBA is 80% state-owned, with a 20 % stake by a Belgian company.

A government audit published in May 2020 revealed "serious dysfunction".

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