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CCCGB News The Newsletter of the CONGOLESE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE IN GREAT BRITAIN

March 2019, n°018. Edited and Published by CCCGB LTD

27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX, United Kingdom

֍ Eighteenth Edition ֍ BUSINESS IN THE DRC IS BOOMING

Important dates for your calendar

The Congolese Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain (CCCGB), is currently helping organise ‘DRC Mining Week 2019’, and would like to invite British companies to participate. This event will be the world’s largest mining conference, and will be held from 19th to 21st June 2019 in Lubumbashi, the world's strategic mining capital. The British government is committed to assisting companies interested in promoting their products and services among the participants of ‘DRC Mining Week 2019’, and as such the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) will cover part of the participation costs. His Excellency Dr John Murton, the British ambassador to the DRC and other representatives of the British government will also be present at the conference. In addition, there will be separate side-events for British participants, which will offer significant networking opportunities.

‘DRC Mining Week’ has been held annually for over fifteen years, and has established its footprint in the DRC, engaging with the government and key stakeholders. The conference has always strived to provide a great platform for productive networking. CCCGB would be honoured to have your company represent British expertise at this conference. If this is of interest and you would like more information, please do not hesitate to contact us via info@cccgb.uk or by telephone on 02089367605 or 07972665927.

To find out more about the event: http://www.drcminingweek.com/

The CCCGB stand within the UK pavilion at the ‘DRC Mining Week 2018’ in Lubumbashi (DRC)

I Editorial A Word from the Chairman

Dear Readers, It is always with a deep sense of responsibility that we welcome you to our monthly newsletter. In this eighteenth edition, we warmly invite you to DRC Mining Week and give you an exciting report of our delegates’ latest trip to Kinshasa. CCCGB have at heart to bridge the UK and the DRC in trade, business and investment. We create opportunities to maximize the business prospects of our members by combining our expertise with our real-world solutions, well connected networks, and specialist know-how. Our dedicated team is committed to support you effectively in your endeavour to ensure the growth of your business. Please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Cedric Longange Ingongomo

Working session with Equity Bank representatives in Kinshasa (DRC)

A word from the Chairman

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CCCGB News – Eighteenth Edition

Business in the DRC is booming...

During their recent trip to Kinshasa (DRC), our delegates Martine Mbuyi Connell, responsible for Business Integration & Advancement and William Kapuku, in charge of Security and Strategy, were given the opportunity to experience the buzz of the business world in the capital. The advent of the new president, His Excellency Félix-Antoine Tshilombo Tshisekedi with the ensuing change in the political arena has contributed to the release of new aspirations in the country. Congolese people want to do business, you can feel and sense it...

Mrs Martine Mbuyi Connell (CCCGB), Mr William Kapuku (CCCGB) & Mr Nestor Yombo-Djema (DRC-based Businessman)

Part of the work Mrs Connell undertook during her trip was to shadow Mr Emmanuel Lomami, the CEO of Business Lighthouse, a British-Congo company that offers digital business solutions. ‘Vraikop’, the project that the team of Mr Lomami is working at bringing to the Congolese market is aimed at providing a platform where buyers and sellers can meet online. His ambition is to bring this concept to the Congolese market on the grand scale of the likes of EBay and Amazon.

Working session with Mr Lomami and Mr Alex Mutanda Mulomba, Marketing Sales Manager of the Press Group ‘CNTV/ Radio Trinitas & Tempête des Tropiques (newspaper)

Working session with Avenir Bank. From left to right: Mr Del Attah (Chief Information Officer, Avenir Bank), Mr Emmanuel Lomami (CEO, Business Lighthouse) & Mr Lumumba Amena (Chief Executive, Avenir Bank)

Mr Lomami says: ‘I strongly believe that business opportunities in the DRC are simply unbelievable. We are aiming to position our company to be a driving force for the digital transformation of the economy of the country. With our project Vraikop as the first step, we are working to bring digital solutions and innovations that are really suited for the Congolese market. Long are gone those days when the country needed to import technological solutions from elsewhere. Now we are bringing the technology itself in the DRC’. This drive to do business and bring the country towards better aspirations touches across other areas.

Mrs Connell had the opportunity to meet up with Mr Gégé Kizubanata, the president of the Congolese Wheelchair Basketball Federation. Having retired from professional basketball, Mr Kizubanata has returned to the DRC to give back to the community. Through the works of the federation, the creation of his own range of sportswear, GK Sport, and many other initiatives, Mr Kizubanata and his team are dedicated at integrating people with varying physical disabilities (including birth defects, paralysis, cerebral palsy, amputations) in the world of sport. Needless to say, the impact on the lives of the players is tremendous!

Mrs Martine Mbuyi Connell (CCCGB) with Mr Gégé Kizubanata, President of the Congolese Wheelchair Basketball Federation

The obstacles to business are real though and transportation, among other things, is one of them. As is the case for Uzasi, a cooperative of 15 female growers. They produce natural ingredients such as squash (mbika), sesame (wangila), palm tree (ndika), coco, banana, avocado, garlic etc which are then used to make beauty products. However, though some of these products are already shipped to Belgium, a discussion with Mrs Noushka Teixeira, the founder and driving force behind Uzasi, reveals that the challenges to export them out of the country seem unsurmountable. Yet the drive to make a difference doesn’t abate, especially now that the political climate is changing. Linked with the works of the cooperative is Matumaini (www.matumaini.cd), an orphanage, youth shelter and literacy

centre for young girls in the DRC. A visit to the training centre allowed us to get close to the creative work of the young girls.

Beauty products by Uzasi

Visit of the training center of the orphanage Matumaini…

In this dynamic and fast changing climate for business, one thing is very apparent: there is a strong need to enter commercial activities into the proper channels of the business framework. Many people, especially women in business in the DRC, are refraining from entering the formal wagon. This was highlighted in the recent business breakfast, organised by our partner, the networking platform Makutano, between the First Lady of the DRC, Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi and Congolese business women and entrepreneurs. One of the projects that the founder of Makutano, Mrs Nicole Sulu, touched on was relating to this issue of formalising the commercial activities of women entrepreneurs. That is an initiative

that many women like Miss Sarah Mokonzi (pictured left) a highly skilled stylist, would benefit from to bring her clothes business Samokap to an arena of greater recognition as a fully registered company…

Working session with representatives of Kobo Hub – an accelerator platform for entrepreneurs and companies in Kinshasa

This is where the work of Guichet Unique in DRC comes into play. During her discussion with one of their Business Adviser Mr Alberick Boonge, the message was reinforced to Mrs Connell that, provided all documents are present, registering a business in the DRC through the Guichet Unique only takes 1 to 3 days. As all the paperwork required to start any type of business is centralised, in view of the change in the political climate of the DRC and the hunger for progress, more and more businesses are coming alive.

That is a certainty…

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March 2018 © CCCGB News Website: www.cccgb.uk Email: admin@cccgb.uk Contributors: CCCGB Management Committee

27 Old Gloucester Street,

London WC1N 3AX, UK

Based in London, UK, the Congolese Chamber of Commerce in Great Britain (CCCGB) is a registered company limited by guarantee that provides entrepreneurs with information and services to help them conduct business in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Through the organisation of various events, meetings and conferences, it wants to create opportunities for entrepreneurs to meet and find a source of development and growth for their investments.

● Encouraging British and Congolese entrepreneurs to invest in the DRC. ● Promoting the ease of doing business in the DRC. ● Developing partnership between Congolese and British businesses. ● Supporting the integration of Congolese immigrants into British society through entrepreneurial activities, networking and training.

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CCCGB News – Eighteenth Edition

March 2019 © CCCGB News Website: www.cccgb.uk Email: info@cccgb.uk Contributors: CCCGB Management Committee

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27 Old Gloucester Street,

London WC1N 3AX

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