Strategic Note & Report of the Makutano Talk of 11 October 2025.

This document captures the depth and richness of the discussions held at the Makutano Talk of 11 October 2025, devoted to an essential and long-overlooked question: why does Congolese savings finance everything except the Congo?

Held in the Makutano room of the Club House, this unprecedented dialogue, structured around the Governor of the Central Bank of Congo, André Wameso Nkualoloki, brought together public decision-makers, bankers, academics, entrepreneurs, investors and national and international experts around a common goal: to understand the structural obstacles to national financing and to identify the conditions for rebuilding genuine financial confidence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In an approach that is both analytical and uncompromising, the Talk shed light on a deep paradox: the DRC has abundant savings, from households, the diaspora and businesses, yet these savings systematically turn away from financing the national economy to feed foreign assets and markets.

This document revisits the major contributions of the session, notably around:

• Trust as the invisible foundation of any sound economy;
• The shortcomings of the regulatory, prudential and judicial framework;
• The mechanisms needed to organise sustainable and sovereign savings, notably capitalisation, pensions and a Congolese-franc ecosystem;
• The issue of dollarisation and the revaluation of the Congolese franc as a strategic monetary instrument;
• The protection of investors and the safeguarding of national savings;
• Digitalisation, payment fluidity and regional integration as levers of financial modernisation;
• The decisive role of leadership, governance and the consistency of public policies.

Drawing on clear-sighted observations and international comparisons, this document highlights the strategic roadmap proposed by the speakers: strengthening regulation and institutions, organising long-term national savings, modernising financial mechanisms and building a bridge of trust between Congolese capital and Congolese projects.

This report is intended for public decision-makers, regulators, researchers, investors, economic operators and engaged citizens who wish to contribute to building a robust, inclusive and sovereign financial system — an indispensable condition for the emergence of a strong, resilient Congolese economy fully geared towards its own development.