Blair Institute delivers economic policy plan for Tshisekedi's new government

Blair Institute delivers economic policy plan for Tshisekedi's new government

With two years left of his presidential term, Félix Tshisekedi wants to define the shape of the DRC's economic policy through to 2030 and the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change has drafted report to help with the task.

The Tony Blair Institute (TBI), which supports President Félix Tshisekedi's business climate unit, delivered its report on the DRC's economic development to the Congolese authorities in May. The TBI, founded by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, churned out the 156-page document between February and April 2021 for it to be ready to serve as a basis for the new government and Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge to work on the policy. The report has since been delivered to the head of state and a copy has also been send to his chief of staff Guylain Nyembo.

This report, seen by Africa Intelligence, is expected to provide ideas on economic planning through to 2030 and sets out a series of "strategic recommendations" for the Congolese executive. Most are very broad in scope, such as the development of agriculture and the need to improve transparency and governance in the mining sector - two recommendations that frequently emerge from every economic study on the DRC.
Telecom, power and cobalt

Others are more specific, particularly in the telecommunications and digital sector, where the TBI experts stress the need to offer low-cost plans to operators in economically unprofitable areas. For the energy sector, the TBI advocates for the completion of the privatisation of national power utility, SNEL, a process started in 2008 at the behest of the World Bank but has not been popular with the Congolese public. It also calls for move oversight and clarification of the Grand Inga project governance. This project for the construction of a series of mega-dams on the Congo River has met with strong opposition from several members of the president's office (AI, 15/02/21).

In addition to these recommendations, the TBI report points to various global economic trends that may benefit the DRC. These include the exponential demand for lithium-ion batteries in electric cars (annual growth of 10% between 2019 and 2030), which in turn should bump up the price of cobalt, of which the DRC contains the world's largest resources.
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