Eight billion US dollars have evaporated from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the subcontracting sector, an area that the authorities wish to develop in order to diversify the country’s economy. This is the alarming observation made by Miguel Katemb Kashal, director general of the private sector subcontracting regulatory authority (ARSP), during a vast control mission.
This report was recently presented to President Félix Tshisekedi and will soon be released to the public. It highlights the mechanisms of fraud and corruption that have plagued the subcontracting sector in the DRC. As a result, many contracts have been awarded to foreign investors, thereby depriving the Congolese of their shares and the benefits that are legally due to them.
Last December, when Miguel Katemb Kashal took office, an initial assessment had already been drawn up. The director general of the ARSP had then noted the presence of only 3,700 subcontracting companies throughout the Congolese territory, a particularly low figure for a country with nearly 100 million inhabitants. Moreover, of these 3,700 companies, nearly 90% were owned by Congolese extras, thus testifying to the discrimination of which they were victims in this area.
Since the beginning of the year, a vast awareness campaign has been launched to promote Congolese subcontracting. Thus, the number of subcontracting companies has increased to more than 15,000, but the Congolese are still absent from key sectors such as telecommunications, agriculture, energy, manufacturing industry, etc., where the foreign investors continue to dominate.
The Congolese authorities therefore hope to reach a number of 50,000 to 60,000 subcontracting companies with majority Congolese capital by the end of the year. A next check will also be carried out in the mining sector, where embezzlement is also suspected. Indeed, this week, a case was discovered and brought to justice in Kinshasa, concerning Chinese people who allegedly benefited from more than 25 million dollars in dividends from a company in which the Congolese were supposed to hold 51% of the shares, but who only received $280.
The regulation of subcontracting has therefore become a priority for the Democratic Republic of Congo, in order to preserve its resources and allow the Congolese to have full access to economic opportunities. By putting an end to the mechanisms of fraud and corruption that have long prevailed in this sector, the country hopes to promote real equality of opportunity and a fair redistribution of profits for all Congolese economic actors