This information is derived from the State Department's Office of Investment Affairs’ Investment Climate Statement. Any questions on the ICS can be directed to EB-ICS-DL@state.gov

Policies toward Foreign Direct Investment

The DRC remains a challenging environment in which to conduct business.  At the same time, the GDRC is pushing to improve economic governance and its business climate, and the DRC’s rich endowment of natural resources, large population and generally open trading system provide significant potential opportunities for U.S. investors.  The GDRC’s investment agency, the National Agency for Investment Promotion (ANAPI), provides investment facilitation services for initial investments over $200,000 and is mandated to simplify the investment process, make procedures more transparent, assist new foreign investors and improve the image of the DRC as an investment destination.  Current investment regulations prohibit foreign investors from engaging in informal small retail commerce, referred to locally as petit commerce, and ban foreign majority-ownership of agricultural concerns. Visas for foreign workers are limited to six consecutive months and cost between $300 (single-entry) and $400 (multiple-entry). Following approval of an initial "temporary" work visa, which, normally, is not difficult to procure, a foreign worker may qualify for a more expensive “establishment visa” with at least a one year validity. Salaries paid to expatriates are taxed at a higher rate than those of locals to encourage local employment. 
 

Limits on Foreign Control and Right to Private Ownership and Establishment

The DRC Constitution stipulates entitlement to own and establish a business enterprise, and to engage in all forms of remunerative activity, noting minimal restrictions related to small commerce (as described in Section 1.1) and a prohibition of foreign shareholder ownership of more than 49 percent of an agri-business.  The government has drafted foreign ownership legislation, which Parliament is expected to debate soon.  Although it may not be based in law, many investors note that in practice the GDRC requires foreign investors to both hire local agents and participate in a joint venture with the government or local partners. 

A new law on subcontracting in the private sector, which was enacted in January 2017, restricts foreign investors’ participation in subcontracting in almost all sectors and is considered by U.S. companies operating in DRC as discriminatory to their interests.  The law restricts subcontracting activity to companies with Congolese capital whose head offices are located in the national territory.  The only exception is in the case of unavailability of expertise in a specific subcontracting area. In that case, proof of lack of expertise must be provided to the competent authority and any other company under Congolese or foreign law may be used as a subcontractor, but the activity may not exceed six months.

The law also forbids the subcontracting of more than 40 percent of the overall value of a contract, voids clauses, stipulations and contractual arrangements that violate the provisions of this law, and carries penalties of up to $150,000 and the risk of closure of operations for six months if certain provisions are violated.  Currently foreign businesses have a 12 month grace period, through January 2018, to comply with the new law.  As of April 2017, the Federations of Enterprises of the Congo (FEC), American Chamber of Commerce DRC, and other business organizations were lobbying to review and revise the law.


Other Investment Policy Reviews

The DRC has not undergone an OECD or UNCTAD Investment Policy Review in the last 10 years, though, in collaboration with the World Bank and the European Union, in 2010, the GDRC published a Diagnostic Study on Commercial Integration, a trade survey that identifies commercial hurdles and provides recommendations. The report highlighted four key points:
  • The GDRC’s customs procedures are outdated and fail to comply with international standards as recommended by the World Customs Organization (WCO) in the Revised Kyoto Agenda;
  • Trade information and management systems are inadequately computerized; where they are computerized, computerization is often ignored in favor of manual records;
  • Exporters face indiscriminate fees imposed by government agencies along with informal facilitation costs for record handling;
  • Onerous regulations and administrative hurdles lead to average administrative wait times of four to five days at port, costing on average more than $1,020.


Business Facilitation

Since 2013, the GDRC has operated a “one-stop shop” (Guichet Unique) that brings together all the government entities involved in the registration of a company in the DRC.  In essence, all administrative formalities related to registration of a new company have been brought together.  The registration process officially takes three days, but practically it can take much more.  However, businesses have reported that the Guichet Unique has considerably shortened and simplified the process of overall business registration.  On the other hand, the new subcontracting law (discussed in Section 1.2) imposes local content/sourcing requirements on foreign investors and appears to have a discriminatory effect on U.S. businesses.
 

Outward Investment

The GDRC does not prohibit outward investment, but nor does it particularly promote it.  There are no current government restrictions preventing domestic investors from investing abroad, and there are no current blacklisted countries with which domestic investors are precluded from doing business.

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