Congolese Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku recently banned imports of cement bags, packaging, and big bags into the southeastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The one-year ban was relayed via a press release dated April 28. Reasons for the move were not given.

Bags and Sacs (B&S), which dominates the DRC’s cement bag market, should significantly benefit from the move, along with other local actors. B&S has two plants in the country: one in Kimpese with a 40-million cement bag annual capacity, and another in Lubumbashi that produces 2 million big bags or 70% of national demand. The firm also produces 36 million cement and farming bags. 

During the DRC Mining Week 2024, Hussein Ladha, who heads B&S, stressed that the firm’s major obstacle is the resistance of mining companies, which prefer importing big bags. The recent ban should be a great boost. It is worth noting that the Congolese government previously provided B&S a $12 million FPI loan.

However, the recent press release emphasized that if local supply falls short in parts of the country, companies can request a free import waiver from the Minister of Foreign Trade, provided they submit a detailed, validated file through SEGUCE-RDC.

This article was initially published in French by Ronsard Luabeya

Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho