Nicole Sulu : “the private sector must be at the forefront of the AfCFTA”

How and why did you create the Makutano Forum?

I am the director of a family group active in the hotel, human resources and health sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Almost 10 years ago, I initiated the Makutano network, which aims to promote meetings, exchanges and partnerships between leaders in the private sector. We realized that what was missing was an event designed by African leaders, for African leaders, to help them shape tomorrow’s Africa.

Therefore, we came up with the idea of a forum for dialogue between these leaders and public decision-makers, so that together we could create an environment conducive to private sector development. We want the more than 650 business leaders who are now members of the network to be able to make proposals and work with all stakeholders on key issues such as financing the economy, employment and energy.

It is in this spirit that we organize the annual Makutano Forum, a meeting of African leaders for African leaders, where public and private decision-makers exchange ideas and find solutions that lead to agreements, contracts and joint projects.

An event that has taken on a pan-African dimension this year with its first edition outside Central Africa, in Abidjan… Why is this?

Although the Makutano Forum was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, our ambition is resolutely pan-African. For almost a decade now, we have been facilitating meetings, interaction and partnerships between private actors in Central Africa, as well as dialogue with public decision-makers, all of which helps to improve our competitiveness and performance. Now that the foundations have been laid, we are expanding our activities. When it came to answering the question: What is the most important export destination for a French-speaking player in Central Africa? The answer was clear: Côte d’Ivoire!

With its French-speaking population, it is one of the two economic powerhouses of West Africa alongside Nigeria, the port of Abidjan has a significant hinterland and the city is ideally located on the Abidjan-Lagos corridor, which accounts for almost 75% of ECOWAS GDP. These are just some of the advantages that make Abidjan an unmissable destination.

Trade between the DRC and Côte d’Ivoire is also developing positively, as demonstrated by the recent opening of an air link between Abidjan and Kinshasa.

The cooperation projects announced at the end of the Forum confirm the choice of Côte d’Ivoire.

The theme is ambitious. To boost intra-African trade. Do you think the private sector should take the lead to speed things up?

The private sector must be at the forefront of the African Single Market that is taking shape with the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). If we are to transform our countries into areas of economic prosperity and social progress, we need to increase trade between African markets. While European and Asian countries have intra-regional trade levels of over 60%, we in Africa have a ceiling of less than 15%. Yet this is one of the surest ways to stimulate private sector growth, create decent jobs and integrate our businesses into global value chains.

We have therefore discussed the key issues that can help achieve this goal. These include financing, insurance and the inclusion of young people and women. Finally, we couldn’t bring Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo together without talking about natural resources. To this end, we held discussions on the mining sector.

A final word to conclude: has this 2023 edition achieved its objectives and where will the next one be held? Back in Kinshasa? Another country on the continent?

This meeting in Abidjan was the fulfillment of our vision for the African continent: to bring together African talent for the benefit of the whole of Africa and beyond its borders.

It lived up to its promise by opening a new door of cooperation that will shape tomorrow’s Africa, thanks to the joint agreements reached in the areas of business promotion, insurance and economic financing.

The one we are most proud of is undoubtedly the agreement to begin the process of scrapping visa requirement between Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In line with our aspirations, this agreement is a major step towards facilitating the movement of people and goods between Central and West Africa. It is key towards strengthening trade between these two regions.

In addition, our two countries’ investment promotion agencies have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding to work together on mutual investment promotion from March 22, 2022, on the occasion of the first Côte d’Ivoire Economic Mission.

For the next edition, any African country open to pan-African integration can be a destination for us.

I invite all African businesses to join us on this journey to boost our trade by tackling the issue of intra-African trade head on.

For more information : https://makutano.cd/fr/