DR Congo's Ministry of National Economy, through its Competition Commission (COMCO), announced a pre-campaign for the LOBA platform, a virtual assistant designed to inform consumers about their rights and streamline complaint and reporting processes across several regulated industries, starting the week beginning May 1, 2026, according to a press release dated April 30, 2026.

The pilot phase, under which LOBA will begin collecting initial consumer complaints in coordination with regulatory authorities, will be conducted in Kinshasa. It will involve the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Congo (ARPTC), the Electricity Sector Regulatory Authority (ARE), the Central Bank of Congo (BCC), the Civil Aviation Authority (AAC), the Regulatory and Control Authority for Universal Health Coverage (ARC-CSU), and the Regulatory and Control Authority for Pharmaceutical Products (ACOREP), alongside operators in those sectors.

The platform's official launch had initially been scheduled for late February 2026, following a meeting held on Jan. 29, 2026. At that meeting, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Economy Daniel Mukoko Samba brought together regulators from the economy's main sectors alongside consumer groups to present the tool.

The ministry said in January that LOBA is intended to build a database to identify recurring complaint patterns, analyze the practices in question, and assess how operators respond.

Timothée Manoke