The objective pursued by both parties is to modernize the port of Matadi so as to make it a very competitive terminal. This should result in lower prices, in the interest of Congolese importers and exporters. In December 2021, the government signed a contract with the Emirati group DP WORLD (Dubai Port World) for the construction of the port of Banana. This agreement concerned not only Banana but also the river port of Matadi located some 230 kilometers away. The Congolese government, meanwhile, hopes to bring the two companies together on the site.
On April 25, 2022, a memorandum of understanding was signed in Kinshasa with Mediterranean Shipping Company SA (MSC), the world’s leading container company, to modernize the port of Matadi in its container handling part. MSC’s fleet accounts for nearly 20% of all maritime container trade. The concession agreement was slow to materialize due to certain conditions precedent. On March 15, there was finally the signing of a report on the continuation of negotiations for the development, equipment and operation of the terminal dedicated to the handling of containers at the Port of Matadi between the Société commercial des transports et des ports (SCTP) and Mediterranean Shipping Company SA (MSC), following a ceremony chaired by the Prime Minister, Jean Michel Sama Lukonde. The objective pursued by both parties is to modernize the port of Matadi so as to make it a very competitive terminal. This should result in lower prices, in the interest of Congolese importers and exporters. On this occasion, Martin Lukusa Tshibangu, Director General of SCTP, told the Congolese News Agency (ACP), “And today, we were on the side of the conditions precedent. But the discussions will still continue within two months to arrive at the final version, in order to be able to effectively start the works and modernize the port to face the competition which has been undermining us for several years”. These conditions include, in particular, the duration of the agreement set at 30 years, the purchase by the concessionaire of the SCTP’s assets, the right of direct river and land access, including road and rail, to the concession area, a tax regime and special customs for the dealer. MSC agreed to invest initially, 6 million USD in the development and equipment of the port of Matadi and to pay throughout the duration of the concession, the sum of 140 million USD for the benefit of the SCTP. It should be recalled that after the initial collaboration agreement initialed in March 2018, the government signed, in December 2021, a contract with the Emirati group DP WORLD (Dubai Port World) for the construction of the port of Banana. This agreement did not stop at the port of Banana alone. Some provisions also concerned the river port of Matadi located some 230 kilometers away. It appears that the Emirati port operator DP World is not at all happy with the sequence of events. He takes a dim view of the presence of his Swiss rival MSC in the port of Matadi, which will ensure its renovation. The Congolese government, meanwhile, hopes to bring the two companies together on the site. Normally, for the revival of the Banana-Kinshasa logistics axis, the river ports of Boma and Matadi must be integrated into the new configuration of the port of Banana. It will be necessary to proceed with the repair of the Banana-Boma road, the dredging of the Moanda-Matadi maritime reach and the rehabilitation of the Matadi-Kinshasa railway line.
Critics fuse
In a March 29 article from the online newspaper okapinews.net titled « After the banking and mining sectors sold respectively to Kenyans and Chinese, the Congolese river transport sector is in turn in the process of switching over to the French group Bolloré through its partners in the Swiss company MSC MEDITERRANEAN SHIPPING COMPANY SA and the Qatari company SHIPPING INVESTMENT GROUP LLC. ». According to this article, « The so-called “concession for the development, equipment and operation of a container terminal at the port of Matadi”, signed in April 2022 between the Democratic Republic of Congo and these two companies immediately compromises the future of the Société Commerciale des Transports et des Ports (SCTP SA) and its tens of thousands of active employees and retired pensioners ». According to him, it will be necessary to lay off nearly 10,000 active agents and more than 13,000 pensioners the SCTP. However, this company is in a position to rehabilitate the port of Matadi on its own thanks to the realization of the debt of 207 million dollars which it holds on the Congolese State and to the land logistics fee (RLT), instituted since 2012 by interministerial decree on all import and export containers. The sum of 140 million USD to be disbursed by MSC for the benefit of the SCTP over a period of 30 years is insignificant. When we divide this amount by 360 months, we get only 388,888 USD per month. In comparison, despite the dilapidated state of its equipment, the SCTP would collect at least five million USD per month at the port of Matadi. On March 18, on the online media Tsieleka.com, the president of the Provincial Assembly of Kongo Central, Jean-Claude Vuemba, also denounces “the sale by the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo of the port of Matadi and the Matadi-Kinshasa railway to the MSC group”. According to him, the central government should not ignore the free administration of the provinces. Even Mr. Kabila could not want to sell the railway and the port of Matadi. Today, we are told that there is an MSC company which is in a joint venture with the French Bolloré and which has already just bought 70% of the deep port of Pointe Noire. And that now they want to buy the port of Matadi and that of Kinshasa.
The necessary modernization of the port of Matadi
Experience shows that those who use the company as their personal cassette are always very hostile to any reorganization plan. Under pretexts of fallacious concepts of nationalism and patriotism, they prefer to continue to dip into the coffers of the company to finance their lavish expenses. Privatizing the management means for them the loss of control over these juicy sources of income. They involve in their movement workers who are unaware of the real issues. The company’s managers, unions and staff therefore all feel insecure about the reorganization plan.. This is how we must understand the resistance that has been developed by the political class and their cronies in the face of privatization. History has the unfortunate tendency to repeat itself in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It should be remembered that in 1995 the Bolloré group had already taken an interest in the logistics corridor between Kinshasa and Kongo Central. A memorandum of understanding had been signed for this company to manage the railway and the port of Matadi. Strikes and protest marches were organized in Kongo Central to force the government to reverse the sale of the concession to Bolloré. Faced with pressure, the government abandoned the project. At the time, the Bolloré company had no port and rail concession in Africa. The company, which has proven know-how in the management and development of port infrastructures, has meanwhile prospered and was managing 42 ports, 26 container terminals, more than 2,700 kilometers of rail and 74 African agencies when it was sold to MSC in December 2022 at a price of 5.1 billion euros, to which were added 600 million euros for reimbursement of current accounts. At the same time, the port of Matadi did not prosper at all. She continued to decline and is only a shadow of herself today. The mismanagement of the SCPT eventually led to the emergence of the much maligned private ports. Another case is that of the Zairian Interregional Railway Company (SIZARAIL) which was set up on May 26, 1995 in order to redress the situation of the railways. This new company was able to restore rail transport in the South and East of the country in a few months. In one year of operation, SIZARAIL has quadrupled the tonnage transported. The same was true of agricultural production, which quadrupled during the 1996 campaign. Internal transport tariffs fell by an average of 10% and import traffic tariffs by 18%, while export tariffs fell by 25% on average. After unfounded criticism, SIZARAIL was dissolved in 1997. These unfortunate experiences should push to make the port of Matadi more efficient, profitable and reduce its operating costs. This will allow the future port of Banana to become more efficient. The SCTP is very sick with more than 11,000 active agents who have several months of unpaid wages and 13,000 retired pensioners, for whom the company should contribute to the National Social Security Fund (CNSS) for their support. There should be no illusions. The SCTP is unable to develop the port of Matadi and the Matadi-Kinshasa railway. If nothing is done, she will die a beautiful death. Everyone will then be laid off. By opting for the concession, thousands of qualified and honest workers can be saved. Jobs will be saved. Pockets of wealth will be created. The province of central Kong and the country will benefit from it instead of the crooked agitators who push out loud cries. The maritime transport sector is the main driver of globalization. As in many prosperous African countries, the management of ports and even airports must be left to private groups. The monarch State has been a very poor manager in the Democratic Republic of Congo. By postponing the reforms, the country will be left without any viable transport infrastructure.
Gaston Mutamba Permission
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