The government has partnered with Equity Group for a trade mission that will send more than 200 entrepreneurs to the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Dubbed, Kenya – DRC Trade Mission 2021, the initiative is part of Kenya's sustained efforts to promote regional trade and business growth.
The mission will include trade exhibitions, business forums, and site visits to four of DRC's largest cities - Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Goma, and Mbuji Mayi.
The initiative is a result of an agreement between President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Felix Tshisekedi of the Democratic Republic of Congo in April .
The two signed bilateral agreements between Kenya and the DRC aimed at enhancing trade and the movement of people and goods.
The move comes at a time when DRC’s application to join the East African Community (EAC) is past the technical committee stage with the Regional Council of Ministers is expected to decide this November.
Equity Group, through Equity Bank Kenya and EquityBCDC, its DRC banking subsidiary, will support to facilitate the trade mission by mobilising SME entrepreneurs, championing the networking, and matching of local businesses to their counterparts in both the DRC and Kenya, and by coordinating the trade mission.
The mission aims at optimising the opportunities availed by regional cooperation frameworks such as the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and to leverage trade corridors and create regional supply chains.
“This trade mission will strengthen service and product investment between the two nations, and we are looking to explore more partnership opportunities in various sectors of the economy,” said Trade, Industrialisation and Enterprise Development CS Betty Maina,
DRC is the sixth leading export destination for Kenyan products in the world with agricultural and manufactured goods topping the list.
According to the World Bank, with a surface area equivalent to that of Western Europe, DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The nation is offering huge untapped opportunities for access to one of the world's largest economic frontiers.
This includes exceptional natural resources, such as cobalt and copper, hydropower potential, significant arable land, immense biodiversity, and the world’s second-largest rainforest.
“The mission to the DRC will encourage Kenyan private sector players to venture into the DRC by showing entrepreneurs the untapped opportunities within the market,” said Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, James Mwangi.
