An economic mission of South African investors expected in DR-Congo

The Congolese Minister of Finance, Nicolas Kazadi, paid a courtesy visit to the Republic of South Africa from February 21 to 24, 2022 following the invitation of his counterpart, the Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa, Mr. Enoch Godongwana.

According to the communication service of the Ministry of Finance, this mission enabled Nicolas Kazadi to participate in the presentation of the 2022 budget before the South African Parliament and hold working sessions to strengthen economic ties between the two countries and prepare the organization of the ”  RDC-RSA Business Forum for the financing of economic recovery ” in Kinshasa, on the sidelines of the State visit of the South African President, which will take place in June 2022.

South African investors are preparing to come to Kinshasa already in the next few days to explore the terrain as a prelude to the signing of partnerships in several growth-accelerating sectors, namely infrastructure, mining, banking, and insurance, etc

Regarding the participation in the presentation speech of the 2022 Budget before the South African Parliament, the Democratic Republic of Congo was the guest of honor during the presentation by the Minister of Finance of the RSA of the budget for the financial year. 2022, on Wednesday, February 23, 2022, in Cape Town.

This ceremony is a major economic event in South Africa due to the mobilization it arouses among the various economic and socio-political partners of the country.

The 2022 budget is made up of expenditures of approximately 130 billion USD against revenues of approximately 105 billion USD, i.e. a deficit of 6.0% of GDP, resulting from an increase in revenues that is lower than that of expenditures.

As for domestic revenue, it represents 24% of GDP.

According to the sources of the Ministry of Finance, this budget is part of the perspective of budgetary consolidation, the stabilization of the level of public debt and support for the post-Covid economic recovery.

To maintain economic growth estimated at 2.1% in 2022 (1.8% on average in the medium term) and to create more jobs, the priorities of the budget aim, on the one hand, to support the reconstruction and recovery of the economy by accelerating structural reforms in the electricity, railway, ports and telecommunications sectors; and on the other hand, to protect lives and improve the social (health, education, purchasing power.)

During his stay, Minister Nicolas Kazadi had discussions with the Minister of Finance of the Republic of South Africa as well as the financial institutions of this country.

Given the importance of the exchanges, the Minister of Finance of the RSA organized an audience with the President of the Republic of South Africa.

It should be noted that the working session with the Minister of Finance of the RSA focused on the importance of synergies and investment opportunities in order to strengthen cooperation and revive the economies of the two countries in this context of post-pandemic recovery.

The South African Minister of Finance expressed his country’s readiness to increase investment in the DRC in view of the strong economic ties in order to create synergies and build a strong economy in the SADC region. As such, the two ministers undertook to organize the “RDC-RSA Business Forum for the financing of economic recovery” in Kinshasa, on the sidelines of the State visit in June 2022, to identify and advance a certain number of signature projects, organize a follow-up meeting on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Spring Annual Meetings to be held in April 2022 in Washington DC.

“With South African financial institutions, we held meetings with senior officials from Industrial Development Corporation, Public Investment Corporation (PIC), Export Credit Insurance Company (ECIC), ABSA, NEDBANK and Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA) , declared the Congolese Minister of Finance at the end of his mission” , declared the Congolese Minister of Finance.

And to add: ” The discussions focused on the economic performance recorded by the DRC since the advent of the President of the Republic, Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, the improvement of the sovereign rating of the country by the Standard & Poor’s Agency , investment opportunities as well as the efforts made by the Government to speed up reforms and improve the business climate. 

In general, South African investors praised the performance achieved. They noted the promising economic prospects and the multiple opportunities within the framework of economic diversification, and finally they confirmed their commitment to support the financing of ambitious and relevant projects in the DRC.

The South African Export Insurance Company informed the mission that the DRC and Ethiopia are the two priority countries on the continent.

Thus, an economic mission of South African investors, in particular IDC and ECIC, will go to Kinshasa next week to discuss with the Government, investment opportunities on public or private projects to be carried out and on PPPs. Hence the need to initiate work to identify and prioritize the best projects and possibly private sector entrepreneurs, in order to better guarantee this partnership.