The Democratic Republic of the Congo has expanded its public-private partnership with German firm Dermalog Identification Systems to $133.2 million, according to a decision signed on June 10, 2025, by Foreign Affairs Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner that went largely unnoticed.

Under the decision, Dermalog is not only responsible for the $48.8 million contract covering the production of biometric passports, but has also been awarded an additional $84.4 million contract to build a national printing facility dedicated to passport production.

The initial contract, which runs for five years, is already being implemented. Dermalog officially began operations on June 5, 2025, the launch date of the new biometric passport. The document is now priced at $75, representing a 24.2% reduction from the previous fee of $99.

However, available documents do not specify how this fee is shared. It remains unclear how much the private partner earns for each passport produced.

Printing plant planned “in the medium term”

During an interview on Top Congo FM in August 2025, the minister confirmed the existence of the second contract, intended to give the country greater autonomy in passport production. She said implementation would take place in the medium term, within three to four years.

“The second contract will come into force, if I am not mistaken, within three or four years,” she said, noting that the delay would allow authorities to assess the service provider and, if necessary, adjust certain aspects of the first contract currently in force. She also stated that the printing facility to be installed in the DRC would be operated by Congolese staff.

As in the official decision, the minister provided no further details on the second contract. At this stage, no information is available on the technical specifications of the printing plant, the duration of the agreement, or how Dermalog will be compensated for the $84.4 million investment.

A long-standing objective

The goal of achieving autonomy in passport production is not new. It has been a stated priority of the Congolese government for several years. In 2015, the state signed a contract worth more than $200 million with Belgian company Semlex for the production of biometric passports, with the objective of enabling the country to print the documents locally within five years.

That project never materialized. It was widely criticized as excessively costly and was marred by multiple allegations of corruption, while the official passport price at the time stood at $185, one of the highest on the continent.

According to information provided by Dermalog, the current rollout is based on an end-to-end solution, covering online pre-registration, biometric capture, and centralized production.

The company says it has installed 100 fixed and mobile enrollment stations across the DRC, as well as 50 mobile units in embassies and consulates. Production capacity was announced on June 5, 2025, at 2,400 passports per day.

Timothée Manoke