2. Bison Resource Development Group Project Country: Democratic Republic of the Congo Project: Bas-Congo Free Trade & Economic Zone Project Location: Congo River - Between Boma & Matadi Project Development Time: 38 Months Project Type: Sustainable and Humanitarian Development Employment Over 8 years: 500,000 Direct & 600,000 Indirect Employment Estimated Project Cost: 4.6 Billion Dollars Buget Parameter Completed: Sir Daniel Bilbruck Bison Resource Development Group P.O. Box 18223, Boulder, Colorado 80301 Phone: 303-468-5237 Email: bisonpetroleum@yahoo.com
3. Democratic Republic of the Congo Bas-Congo Free Trade and Economic Zone The Democratic Republic of the Congo
4. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY Bison Resource Development Group has developed an economic development strategy formulated around goals in key sectors that will drive the local economy. Economic prosperity of the Democratic Republic of the Congo will result from the following areas of focus: Strengthening the DRC’s status as a global transportation and logistics center by increasing trade at the Bas-Congo Port, improving its competitiveness in the growing logistics industry, creating greater access to port and airport opportunities for both domestic and international travelers, and using environmentally sound development practices at port, airport, and rail hubs. Building upon Bas-Congo’s location, infrastructure, and soon –to-be offices to position the Trade Zone as a International Business Center and creating and supporting Business Improvements Districts in commercial and retail nodes throughout the Free Trade Zone and surrounding communities. Promoting and enhancing Bas-Congo’s status as business knowledge center by making its higher education institutions a focal point for the expansion of academic and research activities, new industries, and housing opportunities. Leveraging the community’s arts and cultural assets to define Bas-Congo region as the premier cultural and entertainment center of the DRC, which will attract audiences, residents, and businesses; create new retail sectors, and improve both the Free Trade Zone image and the surrounding communities quality of life. Positioning the Free Trade Economic and port as a 24/7 mixed-use Central Business/Residential District and a International Port. Establishing the Central Development Corporation (CDC), to promote and facilitate economic development, business attraction, tourism, and other activities to support the Free Trade Economic Zone and surrounding communities. Establishing a new Free Trade Economic Zone Planning Department to comprehensively coordinate planned development of the Zones business mixed communities and key growth areas such as the port, airport, energy and agricultural projects. Structuring of the Housing Department to improve planning and services and develop a community wide strategy to create affordable and market-rate housing.
5. Africa is the world’s second-largest and second most-populous continent, and with over a billion people in 61 territories. Its topography and climate range from deserts in the north to mountainous jungles in the central parts, and even more changes the further south one travels. It is this vastness and variety that makes travelling, whether by road, rail and even by air, in Africa such a challenge. The challenges experienced in creating a viable transport network that not only connects Africa with the world, but also with within the continent itself are many. The Bison Resource Development Group’s priority has been to create a network for cross border transport, including air, road, rail and shipping that will make it easier to create viable trade on the continent. The importance of a viable transport infrastructure system is closely connected to the economic, technological and social renaissance of Africa. Given its vast land resources and favorable water supply, the Democratic Republic of Congo's (DRC's) natural agricultural potential is immense. However, the economic potential of the sector is handicapped by one of the most dilapidated transport systems in the developing world. Road and port investments are therefore a high priority. Although these are encouraging signs, very little is known about how the existing road network constrains agricultural and rural development, and how proposed new road and port investments would address these constraints. Bison Resource Development Group will primarily employ geographic information system (GIS)-based data to assess the impact of market access on agricultural and rural development in the DRC. Compared to existing work we will employ a number of innovations to improve and extend the generic techniques used to estimate the importance of market access for agricultural and rural development. We then use our derived results to run simulations of how proposed infrastructure investments would affect market access, and how market access would in turn affect agricultural production and household wealth. We find highly significant and negative elasticity's between travel times to sizable cities (50,000 or 100,000 population), although we also find that these elasticity's are small relative to those of similar cross-country tests. Moreover, city access by itself is less important than access to cities and ports. This suggests that increasing investment in ports in the DRC should be a priority in the infrastructure investment portfolio.
6. Mission and Purpose The mission of the Department of Administration is to direct, facilitate, and assist various departments and agencies in delivering services to the Bas-Congo Free Trade and Economic Zone residents, businesses, and visitors as efficiently and cost effectively as possible.The department includes the following divisions: Office of the Business Administrator, which manages overall operations of the Trade Zone as part of executing the goals and objectives of the administration. Office of Management and Budget, which provides state-of-the-art management, financial planning, and information technology resources to support the Free Trade Zone. Office of Central Purchase, which helps all the Free Trade Zone to procure goods and services at the right time, in the right amount, and at the lowest cost to the Zone. Division of Personnel, which enables the administration to most effectively and efficiently utilize its human resources to provide services to the citizens of the Free Trade Zone while upholding the respective rights and entitlements of management and labor. Office Services, which provides office support services to Free Trade Zone departments and agencies, including mail, phone, graphics, and printing and other.
7. The Congo River The Congo (river) for which two African countries are named: Democratic Republic of the Congo (former Zaire) and Republic of the Congo is the second longest river in Africa (after the Nile), 4,374 km (2,718 mi) long, and one of the longest in the world. The entire length of the river lies within DRC or forms part of its border. It is also one of the largest rivers in the world for in the size of its watershed and the volume of water discharged. The Congo drains the vast Congo River Basin, an area of more than 4.1 million sq km (1.6 million sq mi) nearly as large as the U.S. east of the Mississippi river, and, at high water periods, discharges approximately 40,250 cubic meters (1.2 million cubic feet) of water per second into the sea. By comparison, the Mississippi river drains 2,979,000 sq. km( 1,150,000 sq mile and discharge an average of 16,800 cu m per second (593 000 cu ft.) Located in the heaviest rainfall belt of Africa, the Congo carries more water than any river in the world except the Amazon River in South America. As a navigable route into the African interior, the Congo serves as a main artery for transportation and has figured prominently in the region's history. Kinshasa, the capital of Democratic Republic of Congo, and Brazzaville, the capital of Republic of the Congo, lie across the river from each other in the lower reaches of the Congo River. At points the river is 16km wide and encircles approximately 4000 islands. The Congo River is divided into sections: the headwaters, the upper Congo, the middle Congo and the lower Congo.
8. Technical information Approach: Vessels have to pass the Devil's Cauldron' (5 km before Matadi) where an average current rate of 8 knots is experienced in December. Navigation of the Congo River between Banana and Matadi is limited to day-light hours; light buoys are placed alongside the river but sometimes adrift. Depth at entrance 9.14 m. Between Banana and Boma, owing to sandbanks, the permitted draft is between 6.4 and 8.53 m depending on the season. Draught restrictions are regularly notified by the Port Authority. Pilotage and Radio information: Vessels of over 500 grt bound for Boma or Matadi must take on board a pilot at Banana pilot station. Movements must be carried out as follows: From Banana :Stella buoy at 06:00 ; passage at Bulabemba latest 14:00 for vessels doing less than 14 knots, passage at Bulabemba latest 15:00 for vessels doing more than 14 knots. Dredging Video’s http://www.idredge.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5468&Itemid=146 http://www.mahalo.com/congo-river/
9. Key Branches of Economy - Locomotives of Industrial-Innovational Development Power Generation Reforestation complex Mineral complex Agriculture complex Construction branch International Airport Economic Trade Zone & International Port
