Congo: World Bank’s IFC halts Congo investments until dispute resolved

The World Bank’s private investment arm, the International Finance Corp., won’t make new commitments in Democratic Republic of Congo until a dispute over a canceled mining contract is resolved, an IFC spokesman said. The IFC owns 7.5% of a $553 million copper and cobalt project led by Canada’s First Quantum Minerals Ltd. that Congo canceled in August after a review of mining contracts. The case is now before an international arbitration court in Paris.