BIASHARA AFRICA FORUM 2026 HELD IN LOMÉ: THE VOICE OF THE DRC CARRIED BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE, JULIEN PALUKU KAHONGYA
The Democratic Republic of Congo, through the Minister of Foreign Trade, Julien Paluku Kahongya, took an active part in the 3rd Biashara Africa 2026 Forum held from May 18 to 20 at the Lomé convention center in Togo, which brought together heads of state, investors and more than 100 economic decision-makers, around the theme "Propelling the economic transformation of Africa thanks to the Continental Free Trade Area African-ZLECAF"; objective, the concrete acceleration of intra-African trade and the removal of operational obstacles with the removal of non-tariff barriers.
From the top of this platform, the Minister of Foreign Trade made it clear that the African Continental Free Trade Area-ZLECAF is not a simple treaty, rather a historic business opportunity, because Africa must now move from the status of exporter of raw materials to that of an industrial power to capture great added value, through the development of regional value chains.
On this occasion, panelist Julien Paluku Kahongya structured the road map of the Democratic Republic of Congo around 4 major axes including industrialization and local transformation of natural resources with the development of Special Economic Zones to take advantage of the Continental market of 1.4 billion consumers, borders and corridors of opportunities which are no longer barriers, rather vectors of growth, with particular emphasis placed on women and informal economic operators, in their providing access to formal markets through the Simplified Commercial Regime-RECOS; and priorities between now and 2031, the success of which depends on several projects including energy through Grand Inga, agriculture, the deployment of infrastructure including the Lobito corridor, Kisangani-Kasindi, improvement of the business climate and better access to financing for Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as the mobilization of global financing.
On behalf of the Congolese Government, the Minister of Foreign Trade welcomed the abolition of entry visas to Togo for all African nationals;
decision taken by Faure Ngassingbé, President of the Council of Ministers of Togo, which constitutes one of the fallout from these meetings added Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya.
