n the last two months, the price of a bag of cement increased from US$23 to US$33 in Mbuji-Mayi, Kasai Oriental province, Democratic Republic of Congo.

Dominique Ilunga, provincial director of the Fédération des Entreprises du Congo (FEC), explains: “We have a supply problem at the moment. We believed that with the Ndomba route, supplies could be regular, but unfortunately, we were still stuck with the difficulties of water level and dredging and beaconing on this route so that fluctuations or movements could be much more frequent, but unfortunately when supplying via the SNCC, there are always interruptions. Given the demand on the ground today, we are witnessing a rise in prices on the market.”

“The supply is very insufficient and the demand very high. We hope that with the start of the marking work for the port of Ndomba, things can really normalise. But above all, we are counting on the SNCC, so that it can, in the meantime, multiply the frequencies so that we have a very large stock locally and there it will meet the demand, which is very important,” he added.

In the last quarter Kasai Oriental has been able to receive cement shipments via the port of Ndomba. However, the port still needs dredging and marking work to be carried out to ensure safe seaworthiness.