A soldier belonging to a government-allied militia guards a road in Nord-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo.PASCAL GUYOT
Canada is forgiving nearly $24-million in debt owed by the Republic of Congo.
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty also says Canada will stop collecting bilateral debt repayments from Côte d'Ivoire.
Canada has now cancelled close to $1-billion of debt owed by the world's poorest and most heavily indebted countries through the Canadian Debt Initiative.
The program offers debt relief to countries that have "demonstrated a commitment to invest in the current needs of their citizens."
Mr. Flaherty says cancelling Congo's debt will free up more resources for education and health care.
The Republic of Congo is the 14th country to meet all of the debt-relief requirements of the program.
Officials estimate $1.3-billion in debt will be forgiven once all eligible countries have completed the process.
The program provides 100 per cent cancellation of bilateral debt owed to Canada for countries that have fulfilled all of the requirements of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank-led Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative.