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Kinshasa, DRC | THE INDEPENDENT | Over 250 delegates drawn from the host country DRC as well as Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania are in Kinshasa for a business-to-business conference to deepen understanding of trade in the region.
Delegates attending the third Trade Mission to the Democratic Republic of Congo jetted into Kinshasa yesterday for a conference to be held in the capital to the west of the country with the second edition slated for Lubumbashi to the south.
The mission, organized by Equity Group, has attracted an array of delegates: ranging from those on their maiden visit for a fact-finding tour, and others on return visits to finalize their launch into DRC.
Speaking on arrival in Kinshasa Equity Group Director of Trade Relations, AQ Hamza ,said the visit will include a mix of business-to-business sessions where the delegates will get to meet government institutions and local businesspeople from diverse sectors to discuss potential opportunities for collaboration and partnerships.
“At site visits the delegates will have the look and feel of how the local market works to appreciate what the opportunities are and what the challenges are,” said AQ, adding that the Lubumbashi programme will reflect what will take place in the capital.
The mission is planned to give all the delegates the chance to interact at the conference and to visit business sites relevant to their business to build networks within their sectors and others that they interface with.
“One of the businesspersons that has come here this time came with us in July. We introduced her to a distributor in Kinshasa and another distributor in Lubumbashi. Now she has come to close the transaction,” said AQ.
Giving another example of a logistics firm from Tanzania that has sent a delegate to the mission, AQ said Equity will support the company by linking it to manufacturing companies.
“They already do some business in Lubumbashi and bank with Equity. In Kinshasa, they want to see what other opportunities are available. One of the areas they are looking at is automation of the minerals sector and they hope to partner with manufacturing business.”
Kevin Kinge is among delegates who are first-time delegates to DRC. The mission is important for him to see what opportunities are available for Signon Group. Kinge, who is the Strategic and Innovation Manager at the logistics company, is eager to see the company increase its footprint beyond Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi where is operates in haulage of a wide spectrum of goods.
“From my own research I have learnt that most of what is consumed in Kinshasa is imported which is a major opportunity for us. I hope to learn from the businesses we are meeting to understand how they move goods and see what we can do to improve the experience. We transport a wide range of cargo. We do clinker, containerized haulage, cement, wheat, rice,” said Kinge, adding that Siginon’s interest in this mission in Kinshasa as it already serves Lubumbashi region from Tanzania through Zambia.
Nancy Ndung’u is another delegate visiting DRC for the first time with every hope of finding market for Kenya tea in the DRC.
“There are yet others coming for the third time having done visits on their own or with Equity and know exactly what they want, and our work is to introduce them to potential partners to realise those defined opportunities,” he said.
The missions introduced by Equity are gaining currency as a strategy to growing the Eastern and Central Africa economies as it pursues an expressed goal to bank 100 million customers in the region as envisioned in the Africa Recovery and Resilience Plan (ARRP).
“That’s how these missions are tied to the ARRP. It all ties to the goal that by 2030 our ambition is to get to 100 million customers with 5 million borrowing businesses, 25 million borrowing consumers and creation of 25 million jobs. We can get there by creating more business within the networks of our clients and that is what we are out here to do,” added AQ.
