Despite assurances to the contrary by the country’s economics minister, Modest Bahai, following the suspension of cement imports in the Democratic Republic of Congo less than a week ago, the price of cement has rocketed.

In the capital, Kinshasa, the price of a 50kg bag of cement has jumped from CDF10,000 (US$10.37) to CDF15,000.

Various sources, including the national SME commission of the Federation of Enterprises of Congo (FEC)  have criticised the decision to cease imports as the supply of domestic cement is insufficient while members from the cement industry have complained about the heavy tax burden that cement companies face in detriment to their competitiveness.