DRC investment climate has improved under Felix Tshisekedi’s administration, US report says

From openness to foreign direct investment to the fight against corruption, including the return of the DRC to AGOA, the implementation of reforms to improve the judicial system, transparency in the management of public finances, the facilitation business through the Single Window for Business Creation (GUCE), the raising of the country’s sovereign rating, are all assets taken into account by an American report on investments in the DRC and which make the administration of Félix Tshisekedi in his efforts to improve the business climate.

At a time when all the countries of the world are competing in initiatives to attract and retain private investment that will help sustain growth, create jobs and promote inclusive development, the Democratic Republic of Congo has also been working, since election of Félix Tshisekedi in January 2019, to create an environment conducive to doing business by adopting regulations that help entrepreneurs start businesses, hire and grow their businesses. A process notably taken up as one of the pillars of the Action Program of the President of the Republic, as well as that of the Government, and whose objective is to promote the emergence of the private sector and to impose the country as a investment destination of choice in Africa.

This bet is particularly appreciated by the Americans who, in a report on investments in the DRC, note certain efforts in improving the business climate. Since the election of Félix Tshisekedi, the Democratic Republic of Congo has not only emerged from political isolation but also the country has taken a big step in facilitating foreign investment on its soil. As proof, the American giant Pepsi is in the process of establishing itself during this month of April 2022 in the pilot economic zone of Maluku, on the outskirts of Kinshasa.

The DRC becomes more attractive

After a careful analysis of the business climate indicators in the DRC, Americans note in the report the openness to foreign direct investment (FDI), particularly from the United States of America. It is precisely in this perspective that the Head of State Félix Tshisekedi created a Unit dealing with the Business Climate within the Presidency of the Republic, the highest institution in the country to monitor the improvement of the economic environment and business climate, and interface with the business community.

This American report also justifies this improvement in the business climate by raising the sovereign credit rating of the DRC with the rating agencies. In July 2020, the Standard & Poor’s rating agency downgraded the DRC’s outlook from “positive” to “stable” due to the likely impacts of the pandemic. Early on, the DRC showed resilience in 2020, as the global recession did not devastate its commodity-dependent economy as deeply as many economists had expected.   

Thus, while the World Bank predicted a recession in the Congolese economy with a negative growth of our GDP of 3.5% (for the first time since 2001), the Congolese economy thwarted this prognosis by posting a growth of its GDP around 0.8% in 2020 due to the “dynamism of extractive activity”. In view of these improvements, Standards & Poor’s Global Ratings raised the sovereign credit rating of the DRC from “CCC+/C” to “B-/B” in January 2022, thus allowing the DRC to join the club of African countries rated ” B-” by the Agency, including Nigeria and Cameroon.

Fight against corruption 

The other positive point of the attractiveness of investments in the DRC is the fight against corruption and money laundering in which Kinshasa is committed. Moreover, Kinshasa and Washington are linked by a partnership relating to the promotion of democracy, human rights and the fight against corruption.

This report fully appreciates the efforts of current leaders to prosecute managers of institutions implicated in corruption and others. Better, Félix Tshisekedi has created an entire anti-corruption agency (APCL) to improve the DRC’s reputation for corruption, thus improving the DRC’s sore on the corruption perception index in 2021: 169th out of 180. 

In view of these advances, the United States is very involved in supporting efforts for change in the DRC. They continue to engage in discussions on the importance of the fight against corruption, the fight against money laundering, and also on how to promote competition and attract American investors.

It should be noted that ANAPI (Agency for the Promotion of Investments), in its roadmap, has four strategic orientations, namely: (i) simplification, dematerialization and strengthening of the transparency of administrative procedures; (ii) simplification of taxation and promotion of access to credit; (iii) modernization of commercial justice and improvement of the resolution of commercial disputes; and (iv) improvement of consultation, communication and reform monitoring.

These reforms are all part of a systemic and sustainable perspective; that of the elimination of all obstacles to good business practice for any economic operator, synonymous with economic profitability for the private sector, improvement in the level of employment, increased tax revenue and increased income . These are all essential elements to increase the attractiveness and improve the competitiveness of the Congolese economy.