The Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC) organized from March 11 to 12 in Kinshasa the 1st edition of the Challenge Entreprise Forum, which aims to promote local entrepreneurship. Many prizes were awarded to different local SMEs in several categories. The research firm Target participated in this first edition and boosted the business registration process, which was done timidly.

Through its National SME Commission, the FEC launched the call for applications via a media campaign from October 1, 2019, to January 30, 2020, to encourage Congolese SME owners to register for this competition.

Initially, the registrations were timid. Target intervened to accelerate the process: "Our participation intervened at the level of the increased popularization of the prize on social networks through various sponsored posts. Thanks to this practice, 86 SMEs took part in this first edition", explains the General Manager of Target, Serge Mumbu.

Target will also accompany two winners in realizing a market study around their product to make recommendations for better competitiveness in the Congolese market.

A total of seven prizes were awarded at the end of the two-day meeting held at the Fleuve Congo Hotel. The Democratic Republic of Congo has nearly ten thousand companies, most of which are in the informal sector. The image of this sector is that of a sector dominated by foreigners with a total absence of nationals.

These meetings aimed to celebrate the best Congolese business leaders. The initiative is not new to the FEC because it already awarded the best Congolese SMEs in the past. The last edition took place during the Mobutu era in 1984. The National Commission of the Federation of Enterprises intends to renew its good habits by awarding each year the best SMEs.

Friday, April 3, 2020 - 13:01