News: Meeting of the ONAPAC Board of Directors for the year 2023
In a prestigious setting, the Maiko room of the Memling hotel hosted the second session of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the National Office of Agricultural Products of Congo (ONAPAC) for the year 2023. Under the direction of Me Muke Mukengeshayi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of ONAPAC, this meeting brought together the Director General, the Administrators and the Secretary General of the Board of Directors of this public establishment, as well as the Representative of the Minister of Agriculture.
The PCA Me. Muke Mukengeshayi took this opportunity to recall the context and missions of ONAPAC. He stressed that ONAPAC does not deal with all agricultural products, but only around twenty products intended for export such as coffee, cocoa, rubber, cinchona, papaya, vanilla. , pyrethrum and medicinal plants. He also specified that ONAPAC’s mission is to supervise planters, processing, storage and all transits, thus ensuring monitoring of the production chain until export.
However, despite these important responsibilities, the PCA highlighted the challenges that ONAPAC faces. He notably mentioned the difficulties in mobilizing funds, with only 3 million dollars out of the 15 million planned in the annual budget. This situation hampers the proper functioning of ONAPAC and affects the salaries of the organization’s agents and executives.
The PCA Muke Mukengeshayi also alerted to the delaying tactics of certain members of the Congo Business Federation (FEC), who question the advantages granted to ONAPAC. He called for support from the Minister of Agriculture to counter these projects which could have disastrous consequences for ONAPAC, already in difficulty.
This meeting of the ONAPAC Board of Directors highlights the challenges facing the organization, but also the need to support and strengthen its crucial role in the agricultural sector. It is important to find solutions to mobilize the necessary funds and ensure the proper functioning of ONAPAC, in order to guarantee the development and promotion of Congolese agricultural products on the international market.