Bags & Sacks has expressed interest in securing additional financing from the Fonds de promotion de l'industrie (FPI) to diversify its product range and strengthen working capital. The information was disclosed in a statement issued by the FPI after a site visit on Feb. 24-25, 2026, to Kimpese in Kongo Central province, where a delegation from the institution toured the company's facilities.

Bags & Sacks manufactures woven polypropylene packaging bags and is led by Hussein Ladha. The company operates two industrial plants in the Democratic Republic of Congo: one in Songololo/Kimpese in Kongo Central and another in Lubumbashi in Haut-Katanga province. The FPI said the Lubumbashi plant, inaugurated in June 2023, produces packaging for cement and agricultural products as well as big bags used notably in the mining sector.

Details of the products targeted under the diversification plan have not been disclosed. Current production capacity is better documented. According to the FPI, the Songololo plant produces 40 million bags annually for cement and agricultural products. In Lubumbashi, the company's founder has announced capacity of 2 million big bags per year and 36 million bags for clients in the mining, cement and agricultural sectors.

Prior FPI support

If approved, the new request would not be the FPI’s first support for the company. The fund said it had previously backed Bags & Sacks in earlier investments. For the Kimpese site, the company obtained a $3.5 million loan at the project's launch, according to an earlier statement from the fund. For the Lubumbashi expansion, the FPI said the total investment cost reached $25 million, of which its credit covered 53%.

The regulatory environment may also work in the group’s favor. Starting in April 2025, the Ministry of Foreign Trade banned for 12 months the importation of cement bags, packaging and big bags into the southeastern region of the DRC. The measure was presented as support for the local packaging industry, a market in which Bags & Sacks has established itself as one of the leading industrial players.

The FPI has not specified the amount of additional financing being sought nor the products the company plans to add. The request submitted during the Kimpese visit nonetheless suggests Bags & Sacks is seeking to consolidate its position in a market where domestic production benefits from both financial and regulatory public support.

Timothée Manoke