Kinshasa. Rawbank, the leading bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has formalized its partnership with the Congolese Government under COPA-TRANSFORME, a program co-financed by the International Development Association (IDA). The initiative aims to structure and strengthen the ecosystem for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) nationwide, with a priority emphasis on women-owned and women-led businesses.
From pledges to practical delivery
The agreement sets out a pragmatic operating model. Program resources destined for eligible firms are channeled through Rawbank, which will provide close monitoring, dedicated tools, and—where appropriate—easier access to complementary financial services. Importantly, the program does not impose a single-bank model: awardees can maintain relationships with their existing banks while still accessing COPA-TRANSFORME support delivered via Rawbank. This blended approach preserves competition and choice while ensuring disciplined execution.
Clear targets, measurable impact
Over a five-year horizon, COPA-TRANSFORME targets:
- Support for more than 15,000 MSMEs
- 28,000 new jobs created
- 42,000 beneficiaries trained through coaching, advisory, and market-readiness support
These outcomes align with national priorities: diversifying the economy, upgrading productive capacity, and formalizing enterprise activity—especially for women and youth.
Why it matters now
The program is anchored in IDA’s technical and financial depth, bringing global project-prep standards and a strong focus on women’s economic empowerment. It also builds on lessons from previous MSME programs—most notably PADMPME—which helped demonstrate absorptive capacity, formalization pathways, and the importance of tailored instruments for very small enterprises. The result is a more bankable pipeline of projects and a more coherent support architecture across cities such as Kinshasa, Goma, Bukavu, and Mbuji-Mayi.
Rawbank’s edge: scale, proximity, inclusion
As market leader with an extensive branch network and robust digital channels, Rawbank is well-positioned to:
- Deploy credit expertise and risk tools tailored to MSME cash cycles
- Extend geographic reach to secondary cities where financing gaps are acute
- Offer capacity-building and compliance support alongside financing
- Prioritize women entrepreneurs, consistent with COPA-TRANSFORME’s gender lens
The bank’s track record in partnering with development institutions and its commitment to inclusion add credibility to the delivery model.
What changes for MSMEs
Easier access to funds is only one piece of the puzzle. COPA-TRANSFORME is designed to help MSMEs professionalize operations and unlock markets, through:
- Coaching and mentoring on financial management, procurement readiness, and standards
- Linkages to value chains (public and private) to address market access, logistics, and quality certification
- Products adapted to small-business realities, including working capital solutions aligned to seasonality and payment cycles
For women-led firms, the program’s dedicated support—networks, training, and gender-sensitive financial products—seeks to tackle systemic barriers to credit and scale.
Execution risks and success factors
Turning objectives into disbursements will require discipline on three fronts:
- Project preparation and structuring
Solid feasibility work, transparent grant management, sensible collateral frameworks, and clear performance indicators will be essential to crowd-in private capital. - Budget execution and macro-alignment
Investment pacing must remain consistent with fiscal space and risk management. Sequencing and phased roll-outs will help match ambition with absorption capacity. - Governance and business climate
Procurement quality, dispute-resolution mechanisms, site security, and predictable regulation are critical to sustain investor trust and keep projects on schedule.
Gender outcomes should be tracked rigorously—from formalization and access to finance through to job creation and leadership roles—so that the program’s inclusion thesis is evidenced, not assumed.
A catalyst for formalization and scale
By combining performance-based grants, advisory, and bank-delivered financial services, COPA-TRANSFORME addresses the two chronic bottlenecks facing Congolese MSMEs:
- the cost of capital (often prohibitively high without de-risking), and
- the capability gap (management systems, compliance, and market access).
Rawbank’s involvement increases the likelihood that public resources translate into bankable, scalable businesses, rather than short-lived injections of cash. If the delivery chain holds—application, selection, disbursement, monitoring, and graduation—the program can shift thousands of firms from survival mode to productive growth.
The pairing of IDA-backed COPA-TRANSFORME with Rawbank’s market presence is a promising blueprint for MSME transformation in the DRC. The quantitative targets—15,000 MSMEs supported, 28,000 jobs, 42,000 trainees—provide a clear scoreboard. The non-exclusive banking setup protects competition and encourages service innovation. And the specific gender focus aligns with evidence that supporting women entrepreneurs yields outsized social and economic returns.
The real test will be execution quality: transparent tenders, public milestone tracking (selections, disbursements, verifications), and rigorous results measurement. If these conditions are met, COPA-TRANSFORME could meaningfully raise the floor and the ceiling for Congolese MSMEs—turning inclusion into productivity, and productivity into jobs.
Rawbank’s commitment under COPA-TRANSFORME is a delivery mechanism for MSME finance and capacity, with women at the center, and a credible pathway to scale inclusive private-sector growth across the DRC.
