The Ministry of National Education and New Citizenship (MINEDUNC) announced on November 11, 2025, the relocation of teacher salary payments in the Kwilu 3 education province to Equity BCDC in order to “improve payment regularity and transparency,” according to an official statement. Until this decision, the operation had been handled by Afriland First Bank DRC.

The measure follows several complaints from the Kwilu 3 teachers’ union platform, which, by the end of August — just days before the start of the 2025–2026 school year — denounced unpaid salaries dating back to May and threatened to boycott classes.

As early as June 2025, the union had accused Afriland First Bank of applying selective payment. Interviewed by Radio Okapi, Gilbert Empom, a union representative in Kwilu 3, said the bank was paying salaries only to staff in managerial offices, representing about 9 % of the province’s workforce, according to data from the National Directorate for Control, Payroll Preparation and Workforce Management (DINACOPE).

In addition to these delays, the union reported practices considered abusive. In a memorandum cited by Radio Okapi in August and addressed to the administrator of the Idiofa territory, teachers denounced the use of checks, often difficult to cash, as well as the refusal to exchange torn banknotes, which are rejected in the local market.

In response, the government has tasked Equity BCDC with managing salary payments for teachers and administrative staff in Kwilu 3. DINACOPE is responsible for overseeing the transition to ensure a smooth and transparent process.

According to MINEDUNC data published on the DINACOPE website, the Kwilu 3 education province had, as of February 2025, 2,368 budgeted schools and more than 28,297 staff, with a monthly payroll estimated at 24.5 billion Congolese francs.