By Ayomide Otitoju
Over 100 Congolese companies participated in a training seminar on the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) rules and procedures in Brazzaville on 24 September 2025, as part of preparations for the Bank Group’s Annual Meetings scheduled for May 2026 in the Congolese capital.
“The main objective of the seminar is to raise awareness among companies operating in the Republic of Congo about the Bank’s rules and procedures. This will help prepare them for contract opportunities with the Bank in the context of the Annual Meetings and even beyond,” said Olivier Beguy, Country Economist at the AfDB’s Liaison Office in Congo, speaking on behalf of Léandre Bassolé, the Bank’s Director-General for Central Africa.
The seminar sought to familiarize local businesses with procurement and contract management processes, expand the AfDB’s supplier database, and collect stakeholder feedback to better adapt Bank procedures to the local context.
In 2024, the Bank’s institutional procurement volume stood at around $103 million, with Congolese companies accounting for just 0.09% of that figure.
In his opening remarks, Ludovic Ngatsé, Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, and the AfDB Governor for Congo, emphasized the need for local firms to secure a larger share of future opportunities. “The Bank’s projects and programmes represent considerable contract volumes, and our collective ambition is for Congolese companies to be able to capture a significant share of them,” he said.
Following the session, more than 100 local companies were added to the AfDB supplier database, a crucial step ahead of the service procurement contracts for the 2026 Annual Meetings.
“The seminar identified a pool of over 105 companies with expertise in various sectors. The quality of the companies represented reinforces our belief that we will have competent suppliers for our next Annual Meetings, where their services will be in high demand,” noted Marcelle Akposso, Head of the Bank’s Institutional Procurement Division.
The AfDB has been active in the Republic of Congo since 1972, financing projects worth $1.27 billion. As of June 2025, its active portfolio included nine sovereign operations across multiple sectors valued at approximately $223.3 million.
