The Congo Entrepreneurship Guarantee Fund (FOGEC) continues to provide financial support to micro, small and medium enterprises across the country. During a ceremony held in Kinshasa, 90 entrepreneurs from fifteen different provinces received an envelope of 1.8 million dollars. This initiative aims to stimulate entrepreneurship and foster economic development in the region.
The funds granted by FOGEC have a maturity of three years with an interest rate of 5% per year. According to the Director General of the organization, Laurent Munzemba, the checks granted vary according to the size of the project presented, ranging from 1,500 to 50,000 USD. Among the beneficiary companies are unemployed young people, a person living with albinism and a disabled woman.
FOGEC has set ambitious goals for the coming months. In collaboration with ANADEC, whose mission is to promote entrepreneurship, the organization plans to put in place specific mechanisms to reach a funding envelope of five million dollars. This amount would support approximately 500 entrepreneurs in the country’s 26 provinces.
This initiative is part of the Congolese President’s vision of creating national millionaires and fostering the emergence of a class of successful entrepreneurs. Thanks to the intervention of FOGEC, these entrepreneurs were able to access guaranteed bank loans at an advantageous rate, which would have been difficult for them to obtain from commercial banks.
The Minister of Foreign Trade, Jean Lucien Bussa, present at the ceremony, underlined the importance for the beneficiaries to demonstrate tax citizenship and to be examples for their peers.
This new wave of FOGEC funding illustrates the Congolese government’s efforts to support entrepreneurship and promote economic development. With initiatives like this, the country hopes to encourage job creation, reduce unemployment and stimulate the private sector.
In a difficult economic context, these financial support initiatives are essential to help entrepreneurs realize their projects and thus contribute to the country’s economic growth. Thanks to programs such as FOGEC, many companies have the opportunity to grow and prosper, creating new opportunities for the entire Congolese population.