The digital economy at the heart of Franco-Congolese relations

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This was just shortly after the visit of the President Tshisekedi at Station F during his stay in Paris, the Embassy of France in the DRC and Kinshasa Digital Academy engage in a new partnership. France will support the DRC in promoting this strategic sector in terms of economic development and job creation.

Faced to the need of diversifying the Congolese economy, President Tshisekedi took advantage of his visit to France to highlight the potential of the digital sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Development opportunities in this sector were discussed during a meeting at the Elysée with the President of the French Republic Emmanuel Macron, who assured his counterpart that France would be a partner of choice to achieve this ambition.

These words were perfectly illustrated in the visit by President Tshisekedi of the Station F, the largest digital campus in the world, inaugurated in the heart of Paris in June 2017.

This incubator of "startups" includes more than 3,000 workstations, 26 programs accompaniment and acceleration, event spaces, as well as essential services for startups: investment funds, a fab lab, 3D printers and utilities.

The visit of this space ended with a meeting with digital project DRC. Among them, Jean-Louis Mbaka, co-founder and director of Kinshasa Digital Academy (www.academy.kinshasadigital.com) presented the future academy that will train from 2020 to Kinshasa about forty web and mobile developers and digital referents. The laureats will get a Simplon certificate, the internationally renowned "Encoder factory", installed in Paris region, and especially the guarantee of a professional integration at the end of their training 7 months.
 
The Embassy of France in the DRC, through its PISCCA program to support innovative projects civil society, decided to support the Kinshasa Digital Academy for the training of employees NGOs to use digital tools, and mainstreaming civil society concerns (law, democracy, transparency, etc.) in the learners' curriculum.

The partnership agreement was signed this Tuesday, November 19, 2019 by Mr. François Pujolas, Ambassador of France in the DRC, and Mr. Jean-Louis Mbaka, director of the Kinshasa Digital Academy. A first stone for the construction of the Franco-Congolese partnership that will support the development of the digital sector.

Cassien Tribunal Aungane, Editor

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