The President of the Republic, Felix Tshisekedi, made a commitment, in his speech delivered on the occasion of the opening of « Forum on the involvement of the Congolese of the Diaspora in the development of DRC ”, to involve the latter in national life, with a view to the emergence of the country.

He declared it on Wednesday in Rotana Kin Plazza in front of Congolese living abroad from, in particular, the world of entrepreneurship, public institutions, diplomacy, associative movements as well as technical and financial partners, united, in a two-day Republican debate, to reflect on their contribution to the development of DRC.

« The objective of this forum is to work together in order to channel the actions that the Congolese diaspora leads in the world, for the development of the country and the fight against poverty », underlined the Head of State, welcoming the holding. of these meetings placed under the theme « The Congolese diaspora, actor of development and the fight against poverty ».

The President of the Republic has also noted, to the credit of the Congolese diaspora, its economic role through the transfer of funds to his country of origin, DRC, an essential source of funding for many households and which reached the amount of 2.1 billion USD in 2019, exceeding, he said, the height of traditional official development assistance.

These transfers constitute a not insignificant part of the formation of GDP of our economy, added President Tshisekedi who has, moreover, indicated that he has been working, since his accession to the supreme office, to relax the conditions conducive to the integration of the diaspora « to promote exchanges with our brothers who have opted for a new nationality and those whose country of origin is DRC ».

For his part, the Special Advisor to the Head of State in the fight against poverty, Jude Badibanga Kabongo, indicated that this two-day forum is organized by the Presidential Cell under his leadership and the Ministry in charge of Foreign Affairs, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

The diaspora and the dynamics of development

The Congolese diaspora is already active in the country since it has been at the initiative of various development and social projects for many years at the national level, and contributes to the dynamics of development and emergence of DRC, he argued, stressing that his projects as well as other entrepreneurial or associative initiatives induce recourse to significant means of financing,

For his part, the Deputy Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, Samy Adubango Awotho, welcomed the organization, under the leadership of President Felix Tshisekedi, of these meetings around « the thorny issue of the contribution of the Congolese diaspora to development of DRC, in the current socio-political and economic context marked by the considerable improvement of the business climate « .

IOM chief of mission, Fabien Sambussy, meanwhile, said that this conference has the advantage of bringing together all the actors concerned, with the aim of exchanging and sharing on the opportunities, the obstacles, the possible necessary solutions or support is an essential step.

Previously, the journalist Marius Muhunga, of the Voice of America, had scrolled, by video, the interventions of some Congolese of the diaspora for testimonies and the presentation, in essence, of the table of the problems which they are confronted.

The President of the Senate, the Prime Minister and the Governor of Kinshasa city had enhanced this ceremony with their presence.

ACP / LRP