Highlights:

• IMF-backed roadmap to be adopted by December 2025
• Focus on transparency, investor diversification, and secondary market
• Bill on mutual funds expected by end of 2025

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Congo (BCC), plans to adopt a roadmap by December 2025 "to improve the functioning of the public securities market." The International Monetary Fund (IMF) disclosed this in its latest report, released last month.

The roadmap, based on IMF recommendations, will emphasize better planning, predictability and transparency of the issuance process, aligning auction schedules with the annual borrowing plan and the overall debt management strategy.

Another key priority is diversifying the investor base beyond banks, which currently hold 99% of securities. Under the new strategy, training workshops will be regularly held for non-bank investors, while insurance companies will face a compulsory minimum subscription. A bill amending the Insurance Code was passed in April but has yet to be submitted to Parliament.

The plan also includes measures to spur a secondary market, such as differentiated coupons by maturity to improve price formation and liquidity. Authorities will also submit a bill on mutual funds to Parliament by the end of December 2025.

With this roadmap, the DRC aims to deepen its securities market and extend maturities to reduce refinancing risks. For now, the market remains shallow: outstanding public securities rose from 0.14% of GDP in 2019 to 1.65% in December 2024, still dominated by fractional repayment Treasury bills with average maturities of just 18 months, representing 90% of the total.

Boaz Kabeya