A2T
Investment Opportunities in DRC

Investment opportunities in Democratic Republic of Congo

Investment opportunities in Democratic Republic of Congo include the following.

Investment opportunities in Transport sector

Investment opportunities in transport infrastructure include:

  • Construction and/or repairing of main road sections of the country:

– Kikwit-Tshikapa-Kananga-Mbuji-Mayi;
– Pweto-Kalemie-Fizi, Uvira-Bukavu;
– Kananga-Lodja-I lebo-Kisangani;
-Mbuji-Mayi-Kasongo-Bukavu;
-Bunia-Isiro-Gemena-Gbadolite-Zongo.

  • Maintenance of roads for agricultural purposes;
  • Construction of roads for interconnection of sub-regions of Central Africa, Eastern and Southern Africa;
  • Rehabilitation of existing railway networks (Ubundu-Kisangani, Sakania – Ilebo, Kamina-Kalemie, Uele railway);
  • Beaconing of navigable reaches (Kinshasa – Kisangani);
  • Creation of enterprises of air, fluvial, road and urban transport;
  • Construction of a deep water port in Banana (Bas-Congo);
  • Construction of a railway line Matadi-Boma;
  • Dredging work in the Congo River bed (Matadi – Atlantic Ocean);
  • Improvement of the navigability of the main water courses through dredging and beaconing.

Investment opportunities in electricity sector

  • Construction of Inga 3 power station provided with a power of 4,320 MW and 16 generators of 270 MW each;
  • Construction of the Grand Inga power station of 39,000 MW with 52 generators of 750 MW each;
  • Construction of the Tshala 2 hydroelectric power station (12.8 MW);
  • Erection of civil engineering works in order to achieve the Wanie Rukula hydroelectric power station 700 MW;
  • Production of biofuel throughout DR Congo form Jatropha ;
  • Construction of the Semiliki hydroelectric power station in North- Kivu (72 MW) ;
  • Building of hydroelectric power station at Lusanga, in Katanga (300 MW) ;
  • Promotion and development of renewable energies (wind, biomass, biofuel) ;
  • Setting up production units of network materials (transformers, circuit-breakers, conductives, connexion and fixation tools, etc.).
  • Top of Form
  • Bottom of Form

Investment opportunities in water sector

  • Improving drinking water distribution networks throughout the country;
  • Input provision;
  • Construction of pipe-lines (Congo – African Deserted Areas Project).

 Investment opportunities in building, civil engineering and housing

  • Construction, rehabilitation and equipment of basic infrastructures (hospitals, residential blocks, administrative blocks and commercial building);
  • Rehabilitation of Congo International Trade Centre (CCIC);
  • Construction of low-rent houses in different urban centres (Kinshasa, Kananga, Matadi, Bandundu, Mbuji-Mayi, Mbandaka, Kisangani, Goma, Bukavu, etc);
  • Developing sites and building houses in all big cities of the country.

Investment opportunities in agriculture
-Resumption of palm oil exploitation (Bandundu, Equateur);
-Relaunch of income-generating farming in all provinces of the Republic;
-Production and transportation of rough timber (Equateur, Eastern; Province, Western Kasaï, Bandundu and Mayombe in Bas-Congo;
-Industrial processing of timber (Kinshasa, Kisangani, Kananga);
-Exploitation of hevea (Equateur, Bandundu, Bas-Congo);
-Exploitation of Quinquina (South Kivu);
-Production of wood pulp (Kinshasa).

Investment opportunities in Fishery sector
Fishing in the DRC is done in the Congo River and its tributaries, lakes and rivers and on the Atlantic Coast.

As an indication, the DRC halieutic potentials in fish are as follows:

  • Tanganyika Lake (214 species): stolothrissa tanganicae, limnothrisa miodan, latest and luciolates, etc.;
  • Kivu Lake: barilins ubangensis, barbus, clarias, and tilipia haptochronis, etc.;
  • Albert Lake: baremose, hyd’ocynus porskalili, lates niloticuls albertinus, tilapia, hydocyon goliath ubangersis gagi, etc.;
  • Moero Lake: Tilapia macrochir, clarus, synodontis, barbus attirelis, mormyridae, etc. ;
  • Tshangalele Lake: tilapia, serrono chromis, Clarias, etc.;
  • Nzilo Lake: labex, barbus, clarias, tilapia, etc.;
  • Congo River: tilapia, haplochromis melander, athiopius protopterus, protopterus senegalus, etc.;
  • Edward Lake: tilapia, catfish, barbs, etc.;
  • Atlantic Coast: captain, ray, conger, perch, soles, bream, daradas, catfish (arius), sardinella (mackerel), etc.
  • Development of fluvial, sea and lake fishing activities.

Investment opportunities in breeding 
The DRC has the assets needed to perform the breeding of cattle, pigs, goats and poultry. All the provinces of the DRC are favourable for breeding. For example, the Bas-Congo Province yearly produces approximately 95,700 head of cattle, 254,400 head of swine, 74,508 head of sheep, 237,110 head of goats and 1,756,120 poultry. In South Kivu, livestock operations have more than 90% of beef cattle, sheep, goats,pigs and poultry.

Investment opportunities in breeding include:

  • Setting up poultry and pig breeding economic units around big urban centres;
  • Production of milk (Katanga, Kivu, Eastern province, Bas-Congo);
  • Rehabilitation of the presidential agro-industrial domain of N’sele.

Energy sector

The DRC has abundant energy resources capable of supporting various forms of energy, including hydro, wind, solar, biogas, biofuel, etc

The country has a hydropower potential, estimated approximately at 106,000 MW, or 37% of the total potential of Africa and almost 6% of worldwide potential. About 44% of this potential is concentrated at the site of Inga.

Despite this potential, the national electrification rate is only estimated at 6%. The fleet of hydropower available is approximately 2,100 Mw out of about 6,000 MW installed.

However, forecasts of energy demand throughout the DRC would amount to 3,194.3 MW (regardless the requirements for mining projects).

As a solution to this catastrophic situation, the Government has implemented a policy of openness focussed on the release of the sector.

This policy aims to encourage and facilitate foreign and local investments in a partnership focused on both private-private, public- public rather than public-private partnerships in order to finance various projects seeking funding, including:

  • rehabilitation of Inga I (351 MW) and II (1424 MW);
  • construction of Inga III (4320 MW);
  • construction of Great Inga (39,000 MW) and tie lines;
  • construction of the second line Inga – Kinshasa;
  • construction of various micro-power stations and other lines scattered across the country and the MW of which range from 1 to 700 MW.

Regarding renewable energy, attention will be focused towards potential investors interested in biofuel, wind, solar for rural electrification, and the exploitation of methane gas from Lake Kivu.

Investment opportunities in mining and hydrocarbons include:

  • Rehabilitation of mines of Copper, Cobalt (Katanga), Cassiterite (Kivu) and Gold (Eastern Province);
  • Exploitation of mines of Diamond (Eastern Kasaï, Western Kasaï, Bandundu, Eastern Province, Equateur), and of Gold (Kilo Moto) in the Eastern Province;
  • Geological and mining investigations throughout the national area.
  • Rehabilitation of Moanda Refinery (Coastal basin of Bas-Congo);
  • Geological research in the Coastal basin (Bas-Congo);
  • Prospecting in the Central Basin;
  • Deposit exploitation in Ituri (Eastern province);
  • Building transport infrastructures and those for oil products distribution in urban centres.

Industry opportunities

  • Setting up building-material industries (cement factories, ceramic factory, glass factory, etc.) and pharmaceutical Industries;
  • Setting up manufacturing industries and packing manufacturing industries (food-product manufacturing, tobacco industry, textile and leather industry and wood and paper industry, chemical industry and chemical product manufacture, oil and coal by-products, rubber and plastic items, manufacturing of building materials, cement works, etc.);
  • Basic Metallurgic industries (Steel industry, production and first processing of non-ferrous metals, manufacture of metallic items, appliances and electric supplies, manufacturing of automotive vehicles).

Investment opportunities in real estate

Real estate market in the Democratic Republic of Congo is vast, especially for large urban centres, including the capital city, Kinshasa.
Sustained population growth over the last thirty years and the changing socio-economic development led to a rapid development of Congolese towns and a strong demand relative to supply. Hence, the overall housing deficit estimated at 2.4 million for the period 1999 to 2010, or 240,000 homes to be built per year. The needs of the city of Kinshasa are estimated at 54.4% of the overall deficit.
Currently, real estate sector in DR Congo is characterized by:

  • a very low number of developers (private or public);
  • the absence of property developers both public and private;
  • the lack of institutions specializing in the financing of real estate;
  • the mismatch between the development of Congolese towns and service infrastructure;
  • The absence of barriers of entry for new investors, resulting in easy penetration of the market.

Investment opportunities in financial services:

  • Setting-up business banks and development banks;
  • Establishing commercial banks in all urban centres;
  • Setting-up non-banking financial institutions (micro-credits, saving cooperatives);
  • Setting-up new insurance and reinsurance companies.

Investment opportunities in ICT and Telecom sector

This sector presents huge opportunities in the DRC of which the main ones are:

  • Creation of the national broadband network;
  • Development of ICT applications in universities, colleges as well as in primary and high schools;
  • ICT development in the promotion of agriculture through planning and adoption of new working methods for sustainable purposes;
  • The setting up and management of Internet exchange points in Congo, that is to say, centres of interconnection networks deployed by Internet providers;
  • Provision of standard Internet services: web browsing, email, file transfer, interpersonal communication, etc… ;
  • Availing of intranet and Internet solutions for businesses, such as the interconnection of business sites at metropolitan, regional or national level. They are able to interconnect the branches of a company spread over almost the whole area of the Republic;
  • Development and implementation of applications of advanced technology such as videoconferencing, telemedicine, distance learning, even the virtual university, regional development, mining, forestry and oil prospecting.
  • Rehabilitation of SCPT cabled network;
  • Spreading out cabled networks of mobile and fixed telephones across the national area;
  • Establishing a short wave transmitter–receiver covering the whole country.

 

 

 

Investment opportunities in tourism sector

The DRC has enormous tourism potentialities that can be summarized as follows:

  • The multiplicity and diversity of fauna (7 national parks, 57 reserves and hunting areas of large and small animals of Africa as well as rare species) and flora (a lush vegetation in a dense forest and 3 botanical gardens and 3 biosphere reserves);historical and cultural sites scattered in all provinces
  • The originality of these natural sites, unique natural assets characterized by their abundance, uniqueness, beauty (Congo River with countless more attractive waterfalls, the Atlantic coast of 37 km, lakes,rivers, volcanoes, mountain ranges, etc.);
  • Opportunities for access to more spaces and tourism markets within and outside the country;
  • Opportunities to develop various forms of tourism and generate large scale services to develop a paradise that has not yet revealed its entire emergence.

This sector has the following advantages:

  • Several forms of tourism can be developed in the DRC: mass tourism and niche (swimming, safaris, ecological, scientific, cultural, historical, etc.)
  • Many viable and secured sites;
  • Many hotels under construction in the country;
  • Quality-price balance of services;
  • Existence of international networks and advanced promotional tools;
  • Efforts made by the Government to improve the business environment including the cost of entry visas.

The most important tourist flows: RSA, Kenya, Tanzania, and Botswana;

  • The national tourist routes: the sights are deployed on 2,345,000 km², in the 11 provinces of the country and connected by the airways, waterways, road, lake and rail;
  • The sub-regional tourist circuits: they are opened by the various communication channels above the 9 neighbouring countries directly accessible and three tourist large influx regions in the North East to the North corridor, South-East to Great Lakes countries and South to the SADC countries.

Investment opportunities in tourism include:

  • Tourist site management;
  • Developing hotel activities in several urban centres (Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Tshikapa, Munkamba lake, Kisangani, Bukavu, Mbandaka;
  • Modernizing of national parks.