Kinshasa, July 11th of 2024.

President Moïse Katumbi has recently met with Benedicte Mundele, Jean Bamanisa Saïdi and Pierre Honoré Kazadi Lukonda Ngube-Ngube, the ministers of Agriculture, National Economy and Finance, respectively.

The purpose for the meeting, was to begin new investment projects for the national agriculture of the DRC; while the Congo was ramping up fast in its agricultural production, it still relies a lot on subsistence agriculture, and in order to develop economically, the Congo needs to invest in key areas of agriculture that can provide our national economy with resources for new industries, such as textiles. It’s for that reason that Katumbi has unveiled his new project on July 15th of 2024, the “Farmers for the Congo” program; it, in essence, will provide subsidies for farmers who are interested in producing a few important crops that the DRC is needing at the moment; these include the farming of tobacco, of cotton and of commercial grapes for the production of wine.

Along with these industries, coupled with the program is an essential section that doesn’t mention crops, but livestock; which is a fundamental part of the Congolese agrarian industry and it will allow for a higher intake of food in the houses of impoverished Congolese, and will allow us to export a larger quantity of food to our neighbors and our international partners.

The Purpose

The intentions of Katumbi of producing tobacco comes with his plans to produce new industries in the DRC, including cigarettes and cigars; those two industries would be imperative for the exportation of “luxury goods” for the international market, and could provide some much-needed competition internationally, as well as supply the national demand with our own industries.

For the cotton, Katumbi has announced that he plans on kickstarting the Congolese textile industry, and will provide subsidies and funds for new clothing companies; Katumbi has mentioned a couple of times in interviews that he has a vast interest in fostering a lot of domestic industries in the DRC, and providing as much economic growth as he can, while interacting in friendly terms with all of the great powers. Katumbi has also announced that this funding program, which will be consisting of US$200 million in investments, will come in many shapes and forms according to government data, which considers the soil fertility, the modernization of equipment, the GDP/capita of each region and many other factors.

In essence, these 200 million will come in the shape of new tractors, new farming equipment, fertilizers, subsidies for the acquisition of high-quality seeds and plants, instructional courses for farmers; in essence, these funds will be heavily utilized to ensure a major bolstering of the national productivity of these crops, and incentives will be made to ensure that they are not exported, but sold domestically to other enterprises which need these raw goods.

In addition, there will be a fund for public donations, contributions and investment opportunities as to allow other private individuals from other nations to help supplant this program; Katumbi has announced, publicly, that the “Farmers for the Congo” project will, according to the RCEC bill, have its expenditures and funding, be released publicly at the national website of the DRC, and that it will have all of the required information for international organizations, NGOs and anyone else that is interested in the transparency of the DRC.