Over US$6 Million Worth of Transactions Actualized Through 2023 Trade Mission to DRC
Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) has disclosed that over US$6 million worth of transactions have been actualized through exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), resulting from the 2023 trade mission, in which participating companies generated leads worth US$13.80 million.
ZDA is this year leading a delegation of 40 Zambian businesses for a trade mission to the DRC, Haut-Katanga province in Lubumbashi from 16th to 18th October 2024.
The 40 companies are from various sectors including agriculture, agro-processing, mining, engineering, chemicals and pharmaceuticals among others.
Agency Director General Albert Halwampa revealed that working with the DRC government and the Chamber of Commerce in Lubumbashi Fédération des Entreprises du Congo (FEC), ZDA has matched Zambian and Congolese businesses depending on the sectors and areas of interest to facilitate trade deals and transactions.
Mr. Halwampa noted that DRC has been Zambia’s largest market for non-traditional exports for a long time, but emphasized the need to maintain the country’s foothold in the DRC market, by conducting market research and trade missions every year.
“Trade missions are an important tool that the Agency uses to link exporters to market and have proved successful.”
“For example, resulting from the 2023 trade mission, the participating companies generated leads worth US$13.80 million. To date, out of the US$ 13.80 million orders generated, more than US$ 6 million worth of transactions have been actualized through exports to the DRC,” Mr. Halwampa stated.
He expressed the Agency’s desire to see more from this year’s trade mission.
“We believe the mission is timely and will further deepen market linkages and deepen trade relationships between the two countries and help Zambian businesses to scale up production while creating employment opportunities for the locals,” he added.
According to a statement issued by ZDA Head-Communications and Public Relations Kwali Mfuni, the objective of the trade mission is to facilitate the growth of Zambia’s Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) and to secure market access for Zambian products.
The Agency hopes to penetrate, consolidate and expand the Congolese market for Zambian products.
The trade mission will be characterized by an opening session attended by the Congolese government and industry players followed by exhibitions and business-to-business meetings with buyers from DRC through a well-coordinated match-making process based on the profiles of the companies.
