The first ever Construction Meeting known as “Expo Béton 2016” brought together construction experts in Kinshasa on 8 September 2016 to discuss on the future of the industry. Amongst recommendations, experts advised the Congolese government should commission a study to establish a housing bank.
According to the experts, establishing a housing bank in the DRC is one of the solutions that would make it easy for Congolese people to gain access to decent housing. The bank would specialise in giving loans to be invested in the housing sector.
Accessing decent housing means easy access to land and to construction materials such as cement and all other basic construction materials. Construction experts have therefore called on the DRC Ministry of Economy to organise the domestic construction materials market in an effort to make their prices affordable to all.
They further urged the government to put in place the legal framework that would regulate the functioning of the bank and the construction materials market.
Expo Béton 2016 is the first Construction Meeting in the DRC. It has been organised by New Congo Partenariat & Développement Conseils, in association with Rubis Desing and the National Investment Promotion Agency (ANAPI).
The event seeks to showcase to all stakeholders cement products and other cement derivatives. It also aims to identify the difficulties faced by professionals in the cement sector so as to increase the consumption of the commodity in the country and in the region.