A decade
of influence.
The tenth anniversary edition of the Makutano Forum, held at the Kinshasa Financial Centre from 13 to 15 November 2024. Three days of plenaries, panels and concrete commitments around a single watchword: the African New Deal, championed from the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the entire continent.
Ten years, and a course coming into focus.
Born in 2014 from a simple intuition — that the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Africa needed a place where their leaders could speak frankly, beyond protocol — the Makutano Forum has kept its promise edition after edition. Ten years on, the network brings together more than 600 active members from the public, private and non-profit sectors, present in the DRC, across the continent and in the diasporas.
The anniversary edition, launched by President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi at the Kinshasa Financial Centre, gathered more than 1,000 African and international leaders around the theme of the New Deal — a continental pact for inclusive, sustainable growth set within the long term. Three days to take stock of a decade, and to map out the next.
Beyond the speeches, the 10th edition was one of operational commitments: a 20-million-dollar agreement from the International Finance Corporation (World Bank Group) with a local bank to finance SMEs, the announcement of a new oil tender in the first quarter of 2025, and the consolidation of the Women House as a structural platform for women's entrepreneurship.
Ten years that carry weight.
A decade of influence.
The voices of a continental
New Deal.
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo must be the beating heart of Africa's emergence. The time for excuses is over: if the DRC does not reclaim its place, it will bear responsibility for an entire continent falling behind.”
“This New Deal is not an option, it is a promise of profound transformation — for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and for the continent as a whole.”
“Our continent must hold a leading place in global governance. Makutano is the ideal space to bring public and private actors together around fair and lasting intra-African partnerships.”
“The African New Deal is more than an economic strategy: it is an unshakeable conviction in our collective capacity to build.”
Six pillars to rethink
transformation.
From 13 to 15 November 2024, more than 1,000 leaders gathered at the Kinshasa Financial Centre to shape an action agenda around six major priorities, structured within the Forum's thematic Houses.
Energy & mining
Hydrocarbons, energy transition, governance of strategic resources and value chains for cobalt, copper and lithium.
Economy, finance & new technologies
Financial inclusion, access to capital for SMEs, digitalisation of services and African technological sovereignty.
Hydrocarbons
Announcement of a new oil tender in the first quarter of 2025, with a redesigned tax regime and a strengthened governance framework.
Health
Strengthening health systems and dialogue between public actors, foundations and private operators around universal health coverage.
Agriculture & self-sufficiency
Food security, agro-industry, the structuring of value chains and the integration of sub-regional production basins.
Arts, culture & women's leadership
Creative industries, support for women's entrepreneurship through the Women House, and accelerating equality through education and technology.
A coalition of public, private and multilateral actors.
The 10th edition brought together around the same table the Presidency and the Office of the Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the World Bank Group and the International Finance Corporation, the Delegation of the European Union, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the Africa Risk Capacity, as well as the Office of the Prime Minister of Sierra Leone, represented by David Moinina Sengeh.
The African private sector was present, from the pan-African hotel group Azalaï led by Mossadeck Bally to Samuel Eto'o, president of the Cameroonian Football Federation, by way of the mining, financial and industrial operators who give the New Deal its living substance.
It is these convergences that make Makutano a singular place: a space where institutional commitment meets operational decision-making, and where public discourse turns into signed agreements.
The 10th edition
in images and sound.
Revisit the opening ceremony, the behind-the-scenes of the Financial Centre and the coverage by the leading pan-African media that accompanied this decade of commitment.
Opening ceremony of the 10th edition of the Makutano Forum
DRC: 10th edition of the Makutano economic forum in Kinshasa
DR Congo: the Makutano Forum celebrates its tenth anniversary
Makutano 10 — behind the scenes
One decade opens
the next.
Ten years of unwavering commitment. A recognised signature. A network that now weighs on the continent's economic agenda. At the close of this anniversary edition, Makutano laid the foundations for a new cycle: that of a continental pact carried by the actors themselves, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for the whole of Africa.
The 2025 edition, themed “The Africa of Builders”, will extend this New Deal by anchoring it in the infrastructure, transport, finance and mining projects that shape the decade ahead.