The Autorité de régulation de la sous-traitance dans le secteur privé (ARSP) and the Fédération des entreprises du Congo (FEC) have signed the minutes validating the sector guide to subcontracting activities in the DRC. The ceremony took place at the FEC’s national headquarters, and was attended by the representative of the Minister of Industry and SME Development, as well as several economic operators.
This signature paves the way for the drafting of the Local Content Law.
For ARSP Managing Director Miguel Kashal Katemb, this essential tool optimizes the seamless application of the law on subcontracting.
“Today, everyone is enlightened through this Sector Guide, and we have defined the scope of application of each sector in the DRC, all in the interests of a good business climate, because a good business climate means that economic operators must fully understand the law in question and its scope of application. This is what has just been done today, and it strengthens the link between the ARSP and economic operators through the FEC.
through the FEC. We would like to salute and congratulate our partners at the FEC, who are keen to support this vision dear to the Head of State, while taking into account the good business climate. The Head of
The Head of State, being the guarantor of a good business climate, makes sure that everything takes place in compliance with standards”, said Managing Director Miguel Kashal.
For his part, Robert Malumba Kalombo, President of the Fédération des entreprises du Congo, felt that the creation of this sector guide was a response to the need to adapt legal and regulatory texts to realities on the ground.
“The problem was how to apply the law. And then, the economic operators and the ARSP agreed that we had to meet in a joint commission to look for a document that could support the legal texts so that application would pose no problem. So the commission met and worked. And we brought together experts from both sides, on the private sector side represented by the FEC and
on the ARSP side, and they worked for several months to work out the details so that application would be much clearer and pose no problems. And now we’re speaking the same language with regard to everything we’ve done”, concluded the FEC National President.
This work resolves a major problem linked to the interpretation of the legal texts that regulate subcontracting activities in all sectors of national economic life.
“We had a lot of difficulties at one point. The DG of ARSP carried out checks in 2023. Some contractors didn’t understand. On several occasions, we received visits from companies who came to us to complain. It took both the ARSP and the FEC to get the sector guide up and running. This is one step, and the next will be to revisit the law on subcontracting and the law on Congolese entrepreneurship. Once the latter has been put in place, we’ll have a law that will enable Congolese entrepreneurs to win contracts with major mining companies, and also with the private sector.
Justin Bononge, Managing Director of the FEC.
Nadine FULA