Kinshasa, August 16th, 2026 (CPA). – The young people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have been urged to innovate in order to play an active role in building a diversified economy, during the opening ceremony of the 48th edition of the Congo-Kinshasa International Fair (Fickin), it is learned on Sunday from official sources.
“We call on our young people to be enterprising, creative, innovative and transformative so that they can play an active role in building our country’s diversified economy,” has declared Eugene Manga, General Secretary at the Ministry in charge of Foreign Trade. According to him, the Congolese youth must realise that their creativity, know-how and energy are the main drivers of the country’s economic transformation. “I encourage you to use this trade fair platform to showcase your products, promote your innovations, identify partners, and integrate into structured value chains with strong export potential,” has indicated the General Secretary. Mr Manga has explained that the economic diversification must be based on sectors with high potential, including agriculture and agribusiness.
“DRC must not be content with simply exporting raw materials; we must produce more, process locally, consume what we produce and export high value-added products, develop competitive value chains and reduce our dependence on imports by strengthening our presence in regional and international markets,” he has specified. According to him, Fickin is not merely an exhibition space, but a strategic lever for the national policy of economic diversification, which also plays a vital role in highlighting the country’s potential and the processing of products ‘made in Congo’ or ‘made in DRC’, creating economic drivers, stimulating innovation, structuring sectors and value chains, attracting investment, promoting trade diplomacy and opening up new markets. “Fickin serves as a crossover point where producers, processors, investors, public institutions and financial partners come together to develop solutions that will enable DRC to transform its potential into concrete opportunities,” he has concluded. CPA/