Paul Arithi 
H.E Felix Tshishekedi, President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (right) receives a memento from Prof. Isaac Macharia, Equity Group Board Chairman (left) and Dr. James Mwangi Equity Group Managing Director and CEO (center) during a corporate dinner organized to celebrate the signing of the accession treaty by DRC after admission into the East African Community (EAC) and in furtherance of the Kenya-DRC Trade relations. Equity Group has announced a total $1.6Billion DRC investment commitment by 26 Kenyan Companies following the success of the Kenya- DRC Trade Mission that was organized by the Governments of Kenya and DRC in collaboration with Equity Group.{Photo/Ogilvy PR Agency}
The 26 investors are among the local Kenyan SMEs and Entrepreneurs who participated in last year’s Kenya DRC trade mission in partnership with Equity
Equity Group Boosts Capital for EquityBCDC by USD 100M to support trade investments in the DRC
Kenya and DR Congo governments reaffirm commitments in trade facilitation between the two nations
26 Kenyan companies have committed trade investments worth $1.6Billion in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The 26 traders are part of the Kenya delegation that participated in last year’s Kenya-DRC Trade Mission organized by the
Government of Kenya and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in
partnership with Equity Group.
Some of the companies who have made commitments include Rentco Africa Limited, Optiven Group, Greenlight Planet Limited, Jumbo Foam Limited, BIDCO, Geomaps, Nyanja Associates in DRC among others.The announcement was made in the presence of DRC’s President His Excellency Felix Tshisekedi at a business dinner hosted by Equity Group to celebrate the signing of the accession treaty by DRC after admission into the East African Community (EAC) and in
furtherance of the Kenya-DRC Trade relations. The dinner was attended by the Kenya DRC trade mission delegation comprising of government officials including Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Betty Maina and some of the Kenyan traders who participated in the trade mission last year.
In his speech President Felix Tshisekedi announced that his government has put in place reforms to support investors in the DRC. Some of them include a three-axis program to protect investment and ensure a good investment climate that consist of legal and security investment, improvement of the tax systems to allow flow of goods in and out of DRC and
access to loans for economic cooperators.He has also created an agency in charge of improvement of business climate to link the institutions to improve both local and foreigninvestments.
In her part, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Industrialisation, Trade and Enterprise Development Betty Maina thanked President Tshisekedi for joining the EAC business community and celebrated the growing links between Kenya and DRC following last year’s activities. She also noted the significance of DRC’s accession to the East African Community
and as the 6 th leading Kenya export market as she reiterated government’s support to the business community in their reach outs in Kenya and in the DRC
While speaking at the event, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO Dr. James Mwangi expressed his gratitude to President Felix Tshisekedi and his government for the support during the trade mission and further expressed Equity’s commitment to boost investment in the country with an announcement of USD 100M capital injection in EquityBCDC to enhance Equity’s capacity to fund development projects and large mining manufacturing companies in DRC. Dr. Mwangi also noted that among the 26 companies who have made their commitments some will require DRC’s government support and made a plea to the DRC government to assist them conduct feasibility studies.Some of these firms include Kenya Builders & Concrete Co.Ltd that is looking to set up a cement company and Tru Foods Limited looking to set up an edible oil manufacturing plant.
This follows the signing of the accession treaty into the East African Community (EAC) by DRC after admission as the seventh member of the EAC regional bloc during the virtual 19th Extraordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State chaired by President Kenyatta on March 8th.
