DRC could be lucrative market for Zambia and other neighbours

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), one of Africa’s largest and most populous nations, offers untapped export opportunities to firms in neighbouring countries, despite its long-standing challenges.

There remains substantial potential to export goods to the DRC, according to Zambia-based entrepreneur Marion Peterson, co-founder of clean cooking solutions company SupaMoto. “There is a huge market up there for everything. They need everything,” she said in a recent interview with How we made it in Africa, referring to Zambia’s northern neighbour.

[Watch our interview with Marion Peterson: Changing how Zambia cooks – and building a business around it]

Peterson’s observations are echoed by several other entrepreneurs and investors who view the DRC as a vast underexploited consumer base. Despite its mineral wealth – the country is Africa’s top copper producer and the world’s leading source of cobalt – most everyday goods are still imported. Local commercial agriculture and manufacturing remain limited.

With over 110 million people, the DRC is geographically enormous. It could fit France, Germany, Norway, the United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, Greece and Portugal within its borders, and still have room to spare.

In 2022, the DRC joined the East African Community, a regional bloc that includes Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan, with a combined population of around 300 million. The move has created new opportunities for trade and regional integration.

Simon Bentley, managing director of Farm Depot – a Zambian retailer of agricultural inputs like fertiliser and seed – sees strong cross-border demand. The company operates stores near the border with the DRC that attract Congolese customers. While Bentley is interested in establishing outlets inside the DRC, he notes that doing so would require significant capital as the entry costs are substantial.

Informal trade between the two countries already thrives, but more structured efforts face bureaucratic and logistical obstacles. “There is a lot of informal trade finding its way across the border, but for more structured exports, it is a headache to get products into the country,” said Tue Nyboe Andersen, managing director of Lusaka-based investment firm Kukula Capital. “What works best is if you have a partnership with a Congolese entity that buys the products from Zambia. Trying to operate in the DRC from Zambia is not easy.”

Zambian companies are not the only ones with potential to export to the DRC. Countries on its eastern border, including Rwanda and Burundi, are also finding opportunities.

Rwandan entrepreneur Herve Tuyishime, founder and CEO of Paniel Meat Processing, has built a substantial export business supplying meat products to the DRC. Demand for meat in the DRC is significantly higher than in Rwanda, with a stronger culture of consuming products like sausages, ham, and burgers. His company has established operations in Rwanda’s Rubavu region, near the border with Goma, a trade hub in the DRC. Customers in Goma have helped him connect with buyers in other parts of the country, including the capital, Kinshasa.

In a 2023 interview with How we made it in Africa, Claude Nikondeha, founder of Burundi Fortified Foods, also said he is targeting the eastern DRC. His company, which produces various porridges, has begun selling modest volumes across the border and was weighing whether to establish a factory in the DRC or continue exporting from Burundi. He believes the region offers a larger market with greater purchasing power than his home country.

Despite its potential, the DRC faces numerous challenges. The country has endured decades of conflict, political upheaval and instability – most recently in the east, where the M23 rebel group captured key cities such as Goma and Bukavu in early 2025. It ranks among the five poorest nations in the world, with an estimated 73.5% of the population living on less than $2.15 a day in 2024. The commercial environment is also widely regarded as difficult. Nonetheless, the DRC has recorded relatively strong economic growth in recent years. GDP expanded by an average of just over 6% annually from 2010 to 2019. The economy has continued to show resilience, growing by 6.5% in 2024 – down from 8.6% in 2023 – driven largely by the mining sector.

Barthout van Slingelandt, managing partner at XSML Capital, said that perceptions of the DRC are often skewed by international media coverage. According to him, English-language outlets focus disproportionately on negative developments, while French-language reporting tends to present a more balanced view.

XSML has made most of its DRC investments in the capital, Kinshasa. With an estimated population of between 15 million and 20 million, the city has about as many French speakers as Paris. Projections suggest it could grow to 29 million by 2050.

Van Slingelandt noted that Kinshasa has seen significant urban development over the past decade, including the emergence of new supermarkets and healthcare facilities. Despite many residents having limited financial resources, he says there is a substantial part of the population that does have disposable income and “there is money that is going around”.

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