Kenyan firms have committed to invest over $ 1.6 Billion in the Democratic Republic of Congo(DRC) in various projects and sectors.
This disclosure has been made by Equity Group, which participated in last year’s Kenya-DRC trade Mission, which attracted the participation of 26 Kenyan small and medium-sized businesses and entrepreneurs.
The trade mission was organized by the Kenya Government and that of the DRC in partnership with Equity Group.
The Kenyan firms eyeing opportunities in the DRC include Rentco Africa Limited, Optiven Group, Greenlight Planet Limited, Jumbo Foam Limited, BIDCO, Geomaps and Nyanja Associates, among others.
Kenya Builders & Concrete Co. Ltd is seeking to set up a cement plant, while Tru Foods Limited is looking to establish an edible oil manufacturing plant.
At a recent dinner hosted by Equity Group to celebrate the admission of DRC into the East African Community(EAC), the DRC President Felix Tshisekedi said his administration has put in place reforms to support investors in the DRC.
Some of these include a three-axis program to protect investment and ensure a good investment climate that consists of legal and security investment, improvement of the tax systems to allow the flow of goods in and out of DRC and access to loans for economic cooperators.
DRC has also created an agency in charge of improving the business climate to link institutions and improve local and foreign investments.
Betty Maina, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialization, Trade and Enterprise Development, noted the significance of DRC’s entry into the EAC, the 6th leading Kenya export market.
Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr James Mwangi said the lender would boost investment in the DRC with a US$ 100M capital injection into EquityBCDC.
This will enhance Equity’s capacity to fund development projects and large mining & manufacturing companies in DRC.
He urged the DRC Government to assist Kenya firms in conducting feasibility studies.
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