The Deputy Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of Congo officially launched the Kenya-DRC trade mission 2021 to unlock trade, tourism and investment opportunities in DRC and the great lakes region.
The 15-day business networking initiative was organized by the government of Kenya and DRC in partnership with Equity Group.
The trade mission follows a bilateral agreement between the two countries aimed at enhancing trade and the movement of people and goods and was signed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his DRC counterpart Felix Tshikedi.
Through the partnership, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will have opportunities to explore business in DRC through business forums and panel discussions moderated by experts in various fields, networking sessions and trade exhibitions that will allow businesses to showcase their products and services.
Speaking during the launch, the vice Prime Minister of DRC Eve Bazaiba championed the growth and integration of Africa through trade and investment.
“I am delighted to see that what began as a discussion between the DRC President H.E President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo and Kenyan President H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta, to strengthen the relations between our two countries through trade and investments, formally kick off through this trade mission,” said Bazaiba.
Equity Group Managing Director Dr. James Mwangi promised to have a team of experts from equity to walk the business journey with the entrepreneurs and offer advisory services and solutions that will accelerate business growth.
s. Our commitment as a Group is to complement efforts from the government by availing solutions that enable businesses to grow and invest ranging from financing, saving and money remittance solutions through Equity Bank Kenya and EquityBCDC. We have Kshs 500 billion available to support and facilitate the private sector and the business community to grow and expand their businesses in the region.” Said Dr. Mwangi.
The Kinshasa trade mission lasted a total of four days, and the delegation is expected to move to Lubumbashi, the third-largest city in the DRC for another 4 days before moving to Goma and later Mbuji Mayi.
The mission is expected to expose the local entrepreneurs to opportunities in the service industry, manufacturing, mining, agriculture among other sectors.
