Nothing but bad news has been coming out of the Congo for years and years. Their civil war has claimed over four million lives and much of the country lies in ruins. Since the days of King Leopold of Belgium, this resource-rich nation has rarely seen good news. For decades and decades, colonial powers and tinhorn dictators have raped this country. Now even with the effects of their devastating civil war, there just might be good news for the Congo but bad news for U.S. policy makers. 

The People's Republic of China is about to sign a pact with the Congo that will be one of the biggest deals in Africa to be negotiated with any major power today. With no questions asked about the internal politics and human rights issues within the Congo, the deal, worth $9 billion dollars, could possibly be the light at the end of the tunnel. BBC News outlines the scope of this major treaty:

"And the new road they're planning will be the first fruit of the biggest single deal China's ever done in Africa, worth $9bn.

Due to be signed in Beijing in the next few days, it gives DR Congo $6bn of desperately needed infrastructure - about 2,400 miles of road, 2,000 miles of railway, 32 hospitals, 145 health centres and two universities.

In return, China gets a slice of DR Congo's precious natural resources to feed its booming industries - 10m tonnes of copper and 400,000 tonnes of cobalt. "

To put this in context, the $6 billion for the Congo is four times its annual budget! At the moment, this is almost one small barely functioning rail line in the country. China loves to call these treaties "win-win" diplomacy where they win with access to precious resources and the Congo wins with amazing improvement to their infrastructure. For years, the Congo has seen its resources depleted in a series of badly negotiated deals with global companies -- and almost all of the money has invariably ended up going into the hands of corrupt officials.

As unique as this deal will be for Africa and for the Congo, it is important to remember that China 'wins' significantly more than the Congo. Some analysts speculate that by the time China extracts all the copper and cobalt, they will have an overall profit of $42 billion dollars. In addition, there are zero details on human rights and labor questions involved in the building of the infrastructure. Without too much trouble, this promising plan could quickly turn into just another colonial power putting down its roots in Africa.

A lot remains to be seen if this will, in the end, be a significant breakthrough for the Congo. Yet, given their past, it is at least a new way that offers some semblance hope for them.

The pact also reminds Americans of their lack of policy in Africa and while we are bogged down in Iraq, China is, with great alacrity, tying up resources around the world with their brand of 'resource diplomacy'. Americans might soon wake up to a real shortage of key minerals, materials, etc because we have been out-negotiated, out-maneuvered and out-smarted by the Chinese.

There is an amazing 19 minute video on BBC news from the Congo on this effort. If you have the time, take a look and learn. Just click here.