The Democratic Republic of Congo's private subcontracting regulator, the Authority for the Regulation of Subcontracting in the Private Sector (ARSP), has authorized the resumption of inspections of companies subject to its oversight. The decision was signed on June 12, 2026, by the director-general of the public institution, Juan Ted Beleshayi Kasanda.

The measure applies to inspections that had been initiated but not completed in Kinshasa and the provinces of Kasaï Oriental, Kongo Central, Lualaba, Haut-Katanga, Haut-Uélé and Tanganyika.

According to the decision, the inspections were suspended following leadership changes at the ARSP. The new management cited the principle of continuity of public service as the basis for allowing ongoing inspections to resume and be completed.

The ARSP said, however, that the resumption will not automatically extend to all companies operating in the provinces concerned. Only companies named in new inspection authorizations issued under the decision will be subject to inspection.

Resumption Under Supervision

The decision also sets out the conditions governing the resumption of inspections. Inspection activities must take into account the business environment and comply with applicable operational guidelines. They must be conducted in an orderly and coordinated manner, based on prior planning.

That planning must notably take into account risks requiring mitigation, the careful selection of inspection teams and a comprehensive review of previous inspections conducted at each targeted company.

ARSP inspectors will be required to carry an inspection authorization duly signed by the director-general. They may request companies under inspection to provide their financial statements.

Information collected during inspections must be reviewed through a formal right-of-response procedure. Following the verifications, inspectors may prepare a report of findings after, where appropriate, issuing a notice of observations to the company concerned.

Employment and Statistics

The ARSP plans to conduct a systematic assessment of data collected from each company once the inspection deadlines have passed. The analysis is intended to produce statistics on access to subcontracting contracts by companies majority-owned by Congolese nationals.

The authority also intends to measure the impact of subcontracting on job creation. This objective remains central to Congo's law on subcontracting in the private sector, which seeks in particular to increase the participation of Congolese companies in contracts awarded by large corporations.

The inspection campaign was launched under the previous ARSP management led by Miguel Kashal Katemb. It forms part of broader efforts to monitor compliance with regulations governing subcontracting in the private sector, particularly in mining provinces and major economic centers.

Ronsard Luabeya