From Friday 4 to Friday 11 October, a Belgian Economic and Commercial Mission is staying in Congo-Brazzaville, with the aim, not only to soak up investment opportunities in several areas, but also to possibly enter into public-private or private-private partnership (PPPs). The opening of this mission was chaired by Calixte Nganongo, the Congolese Minister of Finance and Budget, in Pointe-Noire on Saturday, October 5. 

The theme of this mission is: “How to take up the challenge of diversifying Congolese economy: the contribution of the Belgian know-how”.

The various companies involved in this mission operate in the fields of agriculture and agri-food, finance, logistics, consulting, solid mines, hydrocarbons, health, human resources, etc.   

Indeed, economic diversification is major focus of the National Development Plan (NDP) 2018-2022 of the Republic of Congo, whose budget is mainly fuelled by oil revenue.  

According to Calixte Nganongo, Congo offers opportunities for multi-sectoral investment and has undertaken several actions to improve the business climate.  For example, in the oil sector, “in 2014, the proven reserves of this natural resource were assessed by the US Energy Information Authority (EIA) at approximately 1.6 billion barrels, making the country, as a result, the fourth largest producer in sub-saharan Africa. Congo is also characterised by a diversity of mineral, forestry, fisheries, water, solar, agricultural resources with a potential of 10 million hectares of arable land, and many more”, he said.

 The real national investment strategy, structured around an infrastructure development model, was able to take place in 2002 thanks, in particular, to the concept of Accelerated Municipalisation, which resulted in the construction of roads, airports, ports, bridges, energy and telecommunication infrastructure, Calixte Nganongo said.

According to the Congolese Minister, the road network has increased from 1,200 km in 2002 to 4,000 km in 2015. Thanks in particular to the construction of the Brazzaville/Pointe-Noire (RN1) bridge, a distance of 533 which connects the two main cities of the country. This greatly facilitates trade between the two cities, going from a capacitiy of 3,000 to 6,000 vehicles per day. But also through the building of secondary roads that link all communities across the country.

In the air transport sector, the achievements of the Congolese Government meet the ambition to make Brazzaville a true regional air hub, capable of hosting aircraft of type Airbus A380, and increasing its traffic by 300,000 passengers per year, in 2002, to 1 million passengers in 2015.  As for the modernised Pointe-Noire international airport, it tends to meet the same requirements.

On the energy front, progress has been made to strengthen electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Currently, the various power plant are able to offer a capacity of 650 megawatts. Several other projects are under consideration and awaiting funding, with a view to improving this capacity and enabling the country to meet the challenge of industrialisation. “This sector is a promising one”, the Minister reassured, inviting businessmen to invest in it.

Congo's efforts to improve the business climate

To attract potential investors, the Congolese Government has made business climate improvement, its main objective. According to the Minister of Finance, Congo has seen a decline in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) since 2017. To address this, the country revisited the 2004 investment framework. Established by law, an Investment Charter has been put in place. In addition to other advantages such as the repatriation of profits, this Charter contains two specific tax schemes.

The first is for large comapanies and the second is for small ones. The G scheme, for large companies, is granted to those with an investment of more than 100 million FCFA. The S scheme, on the other hand, is granted to small and medium-sized enterprises (Smes) with an investment of between 30 and 100 million FCFA.

For these two schemes, during the two-year installation phase, companies benefit from the following advantages: the reduced rate of customs duties and VAT at 5 per cent, and exemption from duties and taxes on exports of products.

During the three-year operating phase, companies benefit from: 

• The full Corporate Tax (IS) exemption. After this period, they may benefit from half of the IS rate in force for additional three years, if a new investment is made, the amount of which is at least one third of the initial investment made during the installation period;
• a reduction in registration fees for business start-ups, capital increases, corporate mergers, share and share transfers, etc.
• zero VAT on the export of goods and services produced on the national territory, in order to promote the development of a genuine industrial policy geared towards exports, source of foreign exchange reserve accumulation and therefore of monetary stability;
• the possibility to defer negative results to the next three fiscal years to facilitate a return to balance in the event of periodic difficulties.

These tax cuts are being extended to businesses investing in the social sector, whose development is also a major challenge for the government and the people. The counterpart of these advantages is to comply with certain commitments, linked in particular to the creation of local jobs, in order to enable the country to achieve its objective of reducing unemployment, particularly with regard to young people, while promoting skilled jobs.

The assessment of this development strategy has not enabled the country to achieve all its development objectives. To achieve this, the government has set out to build a system specifically attractive to investors, namely the Special Economic Zones (SEZs). Of the 4 SEZs that will be set up, two areas being operationalised. These are the SEZs from Brazzaville to Maloukou, located some 45 km north of the capital city, and that of Pointe-Noire. The Brazzaville SEZs already have a few production units that can be acquired, while the Pointe-Noire SEZs are currently being installed. 

According to the Minister of Finance, the tax system in these areas is considered attractive for investors seeking profitability.  

Furthermore, to support the various investment projects, the Congolese governement thought that the framework governing the country's business climate had to be improved and modernised. I has carried out:

• the establisment of Single windows for the Clearance of goods (GUD), to enable users to carry out , at a single point, all the formalities essential for the clearance of goods; 
• the putting in place of e-customs solution, which enable customs clearance operations to be carried out online, with the possiblity of tracking goods in transit in real time  ; 
• the establishment of a Centre for Mediation and Arbitration in Congo (CEMACO)
• Building the capacities of lawyers and judges in business law, to enable them to decide with full knowledge of the facts, on the related cases; 
• Finally, the creation of the Congolese Agency for the Promotion and Creation of enterprises (ACPCE).

“These few elements are all factors that tend to significantly improve the business climate in our country”, Calixte Nganongo concluded.

Several Belgian business leaders have taken part in this mission, among them, Hans Cami, representing the company Jan de Nul, specialised, among others, in sea dredging. Present in Congo since 2012, this company has carried out the deepening of the water level of the Port Authority of Pointe-Noire, and filling, on 50 hectares of extension, of the said port: Arnaud Lecocq, representing the company Compliance 4business, specialised in the field of Banking, Finance and Insurance.

Note that culturally, the Belgian Economic and Commercial Mission visited the Loango museum, the Gorges of Diosso and the Route of Caravans (Kouilou division) before going to the Saris-Congo sugar of Nkayi (Bouenza division) and in Brazzaville.

The opening ceremony was attended by the Congolese Ambassador to Benelux and European Union, Léon Raphaël Mokoko, and the Belgian Ambassador to Congo, Fréderic Meurice.

The Press office of the Ministry of Finance