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MINISTRY OF FOREIGN TRADE: HIGH-LEVEL PANEL THIS FRIDAY IN WASHINGTON ON THE STATE OF THE AFRICA REGION IN RESPECT OF PUBLIC POLICIES FOR THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRIES AND THE CREATION OF JOBS: THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE, JULIEN PALUKU KAHONGYA PLEADED FOR CONCRETE ACTIONS ON THE GROUND TO WIN THIS BET

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At the high-level panel on the state of the Africa region in terms of public policies for the growth of industries and job creation organized this Friday, February 17, 2026 in Washington in the United States on the sidelines of the spring meetings of the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, the Democratic Republic of Congo through its Minister of Commerce, Julien Paluku Kahongya pleaded for concrete actions on the ground to win this bet, because Africa has forums, workshops and conferences must give way to concrete actions in Africa.

Alongside 4 other renowned panelists, Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya argued that the economic transformation of the African continent is based on a fundamental transition which moves from an economy of export of raw raw materials to an integration focused on the development of regional value chains, which involves the establishment of public policies on the reduction of barriers and industrial incentives.

To achieve this, the Minister of Foreign Trade is banking on the modernization of infrastructure and transport corridors, the facilitation of trade with the reduction of logistics costs, which are among the highest in the world, the development of cross-border Special Economic Zones and energy infrastructure, with the potential of 100,000 megawats which the DRC has through Inga, but also regulatory harmonization, the effective implementation of the Continental Free Trade Zone Africa-ZLECAF with the elimination of non-tariff barriers and the digitalization of customs procedures to reduce waiting times and costs at borders and the interconnection of one-stop shops, the development of skills and employability, the reform of technical programs to meet the needs of strategic sectors and support for Small and Medium Enterprises-SMEs, he added.

Note that on this occasion, the DRC proposed the establishment of guarantee funds and technical assistance programs to strengthen the local economic fabric.