The Congolese government, through its Minister of Economy and Finance, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye, received, Friday September 22, 2023, a strong Chinese delegation, led by Gu Shu, President of the Agricultural Bank of China. The interview focused mainly on the development of the activities of the Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa (BSCA-Bank).

Regarding the activities of this bank, the Congolese Minister mentioned two major concerns, namely: firstly, "the real estate program of BSCA.Bank, the implementation of which was materialized, on the same day, by the inauguration of the Poto Poto agency (third district of Brazzaville), as well as by the construction of the Bacongo agency (second district), the work of which has been completed. This Program will continue with the construction of the Oyo (Cuvette) agencies; Dolisie (Niari) and Pointe-Noire (economic capital of the Republic of Congo).

Regarding the Oyo agency, for example, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye explained that “this city is not only a city in full expansion, but above all a city in the center of the country, at the crossroads, between Boundji -Ewo, Owando-Makoua-Ouesso and Gamboma-Ngo. The presence of the BSCA agency. Bank in Oyo will cover the needs of all the populations of these different localities.”

The second concern raised by the Minister of Economy and Finance concerned the 2014 Beijing Protocol. On this subject, Jean-Baptiste Ondaye recalled the words of the Congolese President, Denis Sassou-N'Guesso, addressing to his counterpart and brother, Chinese President Xi Ping, in these terms: “Mr. President, with the creation of this bank in Congo, I am giving you the keys to the door to the conquest of Africa.”

Commenting on these remarks, Minister Ondaye expressed his understanding. “Our understanding of this quote is that Congo is a hub for the bank and that the deployment of this bank's activities across Africa should be done from Congo. This assumes that the bank's activities in Congo are sufficiently consolidated to enable it to play this role. The ambition here is to make Congo a reference financial center in the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC),” he said.

Note that the establishment of BSCA-Bank on the rest of the African continent has slowed down since 2019, due to two main global shocks: the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict (triggered since February 2022). .

The Communication Unit of the Ministry of Economy and Finance