Employees of over 100 Congolese companies received training in the African Development Bank’s rules (www.AfDB.org) and procedures during an information and awareness seminar held in Brazzaville on 24 September 2025. The event forms part of the preparations for the Bank Group's Annual Meetings scheduled to take place in Brazzaville in May 2026.

"The main objective of the seminar is to raise awareness among companies operating in the Republic of Congo about the Bank's rules and procedures. This will help prepare them for contract opportunities with the Bank in the context of the Annual Meetings and even beyond," said Olivier Beguy, Country Economist at the Bank's Liaison Office in Congo, speaking on behalf of the Bank's Director-General for Central Africa, Léandre Bassolé.

The meeting aimed to familiarise local businesses with procurement and contract management procedures, while identifying new service providers and expanding the Bank's supplier database. The Bank also sought to gather feedback from local stakeholders to help tailor its procedures to the country context and optimize its internal systems.

The Bank's institutional procurement volume for 2024 was estimated at around $103 million, of which only 0.09 percent was allocated to Congolese companies.

In his introductory remarks, Ludovic Ngatsé, Congolese Minister of the Economy, Planning and Regional Integration, and the Bank’s Governor for the country, said: "The Bank's projects and programmes represent considerable contract volumes, and our collective ambition is for Congolese companies to be able to capture a significant share of them."

Following the seminar, more than 100 companies across various sectors were added to the Bank's supplier database, an important step before the opening of the service procurement contracts for the Annual Meetings.

"The seminar identified a pool of more than 105 companies with expertise in various sectors. The quality of the companies represented reinforces our belief that we will have competent suppliers for our next Annual Meetings, where their services will be in high demand," concluded Marcelle Akposso, Head of the Bank's Institutional Procurement Division.

The Bank has been active in the Republic of Congo since 197 and has financed projects totalling $1.27 billion in value. As of 30 June 2025 it had an active portfolio of nine sovereign operations in various sectors, valued at approximately $223.3 million.