The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group (WB), organized “IFC Day” on January 14 in Brazzaville, an event that brought together private sector players, government officials and development partners.
The objective of the meeting was to discuss the challenges and opportunities of priority sectors for the country’s development, in particular energy, industry, agriculture and digital technology, included in the National Development Plan (PND 2022-2026).
“We organized the first edition of IFC in Congo for two purposes: on the one hand, to inform a wider audience about our products and services as well as our strategies; on the other hand, it is a meeting that allows public and private actors to discuss investment opportunities in Congo and ways and means to increase investments in this country,” explained IFC regional representative for Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi, Malick Fall.
Previously limited to Congo, IFC activities have, over the past two years, been engaged to enable significant growth. An office was opened to strengthen teams at the local level in order to be closer to the needs of the private sector in dialogue with the government.
“We started with our investment activities. Last year, $10 million was invested in a company operating in the telecommunications sector. We have also undertaken several initiatives in priority sectors ,” noted the IFC regional representative.
“All this will allow us in the years to come to significantly increase our activities not only in investment, but also in advisory services in Congo, in partnership with the World Bank and other technical and financial partners,” he continued.
To help Congo improve its business climate, IFC has launched the Private Sector Diagnostic, a tool to understand opportunities and challenges. The teams in charge of this study are, according to Malick Fall, in Brazzaville to meet with members of the government, private sector players, employers’ organizations, chambers of commerce, etc.
It should be noted that companies from other countries shared their investment experiences with the IFC, thus offering unique perspectives on innovative tools to support the growth and development of the Congolese private sector.
Presiding over the opening ceremony, the Minister of Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, Ludovic Ngatsé, said: “This event, which brings together major players from the private sector, financial institutions and development partners, constitutes a key step in our shared vision of transforming the Congolese economy.” According to him, it is by joining forces, public and private sectors, that we will succeed in building an economy that offers opportunities, particularly to young people and women.
“The economic diversification that Congo is aiming for will make it possible to achieve strong growth that we want to be inclusive, sustainable and resilient, driven by a PND that highlights the role of the private sector in achieving this. Our collaboration with the IFC is essential to achieve our objectives,” said the Minister of Economy
