Congo – Agro-industries
– Agro-industry, one of the pillars of the 2022-2026 National Development Plan

The new agricultural dynamic is facilitated by agro-industrial investments. The Niari department is one of the main beneficiaries of these reforms undertaken by the Congolese authorities with the support of donors such as the World Bank and UNCTAD. Located 160 km from Pointe-Noire, it has seen the establishment of international players such as Agri Resources Group and Tolona, a Spanish company, in recent years.

Established in Dolisie since 2016, where it manages more than 69,000 hectares of land, Agri Resources Congo, a subsidiary of Agri Resources Group (the agricultural branch of Monaco Resources Group), has invested in local production of cereals (rice and corn) and market gardening (cabbage, peppers, green onions, chili peppers, onions). They produce more than 20 tons of vegetables, thanks to local labor and sustainable agricultural practices. The next step is focused on the processing of these raw materials. 

The Tolona group, also present on the banks of the Niari River, produces corn and other high-value crops. The company has also started raising poultry for egg production, in order to supply the local market at low prices. 

These two examples illustrate the new dynamic, the result of government reforms that seek to support the smallest farmers, as evidenced by the validation in early 2022 of the commercial agriculture development support project (PDAC).

In his New Year's message to the nation for 2023, President Denis Sassou Nguesso reiterated his "firm commitment" to building the country's first fertilizer and fertilizer manufacturing plant in the Pointe-Noire Special Economic Zone (SEZ). Its cost is estimated at $2.5 billion.

The National Development Plan 2022-2026 therefore places agriculture in the broad sense, as well as industry in the component linked to the processing of basic products, at the heart of the diversification process.