20 Congolese entrepreneurs receive grants to develop their businesses
Kinshasa, August 3 – The Entrepreneurship Guarantee Fund in Congo (FOGEC) awarded non-refundable grants to 20 Congolese entrepreneurs during a ceremony organized in Kinshasa. These project leaders have benefited from direct funding to formalize themselves and acquire the equipment necessary for the development of their small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Beneficiaries of these subsidies are active in different sectors such as shoemaking, sewing and mobile telephony. Thanks to this funding, they will be able to improve their infrastructure and increase their production capacity, thus contributing to the prosperity of Congolese society.
The delivery of these grants was a pleasant surprise for the entrepreneurs. Sophie Ngalalu, one of the beneficiaries, expressed her joy and gratitude towards FOGEC: “Receiving this surprise grant from FOGEC is a real source of motivation for me. It will help us develop our business and make it a success. “.
Evariste Mukanya, Chairman of the Board of Directors of FOGEC, praised the courage of the entrepreneurs and assured his support. He stressed the importance of helping informal entrepreneurs to formalize and become financially viable: “Most Congolese work informally and need a first step. We aim to provide them with initial help to make their formal business and thus facilitate their access to finance”.
This initiative by President Félix Tshisekedi aims to guarantee access to financing for startups, SMEs and Congolese artisans. FOGEC, created three years ago, is a public institution with legal personality and administrative and financial autonomy. It actively contributes to the economic development of the country by supporting local entrepreneurs.
This grant award ceremony is in addition to other initiatives implemented by FOGEC. Recently, it granted $1.8 million to 90 entrepreneurs from different provinces of the DRC, as part of its commitment to supporting local entrepreneurship.
Thanks to these grants, Congolese entrepreneurs will be able to develop their businesses, create jobs and participate in the country’s economic development. FOGEC thus continues to play an essential role in the promotion of entrepreneurship in the DRC