Economic and legal analysis of the risk of enforcing the subcontracting law in the private sector in the Democratic Republic of the Congo<br>Working paper no. 02/2020

ABSTRACT

In 2017 the Congolese legislator enacted a law on subcontracting in the private sector, which reserves the exclusive right to carry out subcontracting activities to Congolese nationals alone, with the aim of promoting national entrepreneurship and ensuring the emergence of a Congolese middle class.

Nevertheless, the application of this paradigm is not without consequences for the business climate, insofar as it may pose a threat in terms of collision with certain of the country's international commitments (notably the AfCFTA, COMESA and the WTO), of the nationalisation of foreign investment, of constraints on technology transfer, and of the issue of financing national companies. An analysis through an economic and legal approach suggests tempering certain provisions of the law in force and envisaging a specific modus operandi capable of ensuring a successful transition towards the effective nationalisation of subcontracting.