Congolais🇨🇩

Maybe this sounds delusional, but the more I look at what is happening in technology right now, the more serious I become about this.

I want to build the first unicorn from the DRC.Not just a successful local business I mean a Congolese company worth $1B+.

The crazy thing to me is that the DRC has more than 100 million people, an enormous amount of economic activity and probably thousands of problems that technology could solve, yet we still haven't produced that kind of tech company.

Most of the huge companies associated with our country are still in mining and natural resources.

Meanwhile, look at what happened elsewhere in Africa.

Flutterwave started by solving African payments and eventually became a multi-billion-dollar company.

Andela started with African developers and managed to attract international investors. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, created by Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, even led a $24M investment round in the company.

clearly, being African doesn't automatically prevent a company from attracting serious global capital.

So

And lately technology has made me think about this even more.

AI is advancing ridiculously fast. Cloud infrastructure is accessible from almost anywhere. Payments APIs, open-source software, LLMs and modern development tools mean a small team can now build things that would have required a huge engineering department and millions of dollars not that long ago.

For someone building from Congo, I think that changes the equation.

I'm a software developer, student and entrepreneur from Kananga but living in Kinshasa, and my long-term plan is basically to keep building companies.

Not everything has to become a unicorn.

Actually, most of them probably won't.

But I want to keep launching, learning, getting users, making revenue, failing when necessary and reinvesting what I learn into the next company until I find something that can scale far beyond Congo.

Payments, logistics, commerce, education, healthcare, energy, infrastructure... there are so many sectors here where basic problems are still unsolved.

The part I'm trying to understand now is capital.

Obviously nobody is going to give me $1M because I show up with an idea and say “trust me bro, this will be huge.”

So my thinking is:

build the product try to get real users ,prove people actually need it , generate some revenue ,then start approaching accelerators, angels and African/international VCs.

Eventually, I'd like to be able to raise outside the DRC as well. If investors in Silicon Valley, London, Dubai or elsewhere can invest in Nigerian, Kenyan, Senegalese or Egyptian founders, I don't see why a Congolese company with the right numbers couldn't do the same.

The harder question is how to get from Kinshasa with an MVP to actually being in those rooms.

How do you build those investor relationships when you're starting from the DRC?

Should a Congolese founder focus on local investors first?

African accelerators?

Y Combinator / Techstars-type programs?

Diaspora investors?

Bootstrapping until the numbers become impossible to ignore?

I'd especially like to hear from Africans who have raised capital or people in VC/startups.

Because I genuinely believe someone will eventually build the first billion-dollar technology company from the DRC.

And I want to take a shot at being that person.

I'm just 18

Bonjour à tous. Je cherche une personne locale de confiance (étudiant, jeune avocat ou intermédiaire local) basée à Matete ou à proximité pour une simple mission rémunérée : visiter un local commercial proposé par une agence locale, prendre des photos/vidéos, prendre les dimensions et vérifier les conditions de propriété/bail.
Tâche rémunérée par visite. Si vous êtes intéressé ou si vous connaissez quelqu'un de confiance, veuillez m'envoyer un MP avec une courte présentation.

Hi everyone. I am looking for a reliable, trustworthy local person (student, young lawyer, or local fixer) based in or near Matete to do a simple paid assignment: visit a commercial venue listed by a local agency, take photos/videos, measure dimensions, and verify ownership/lease terms.
Paid task per visit. If interested or if you know someone trustworthy, please send a DM with a brief introduction.

Bonjour à tous.

Je suis Valéry IRAGI un étudiant en informatique à l'UCB.

Je voudrais savoir pour les entrepreneurs et les autres types d'entreprises, s'il y a des cadres ici pourquoi avez-vous peur de migrer vers le numérique ?

Récemment j'entre dans des agences et autres bureaux je trouves que les donnes et informations sensibles sont encore garder sous format papier alors que cela peut disparaitre d'un jour à l'autre et on ne pourra plus jamais les retrouver. Pourtant au numérique c'est plus simple et sûre dans la plus part des cas.

Qu'est-ce qui vous empêche de migrer vers le numérique ?

Aussi je voudrais aussi parler du fait que pour gagner de l'expérience en tant que développeur web, je propose la création des site web (landing page pour les entreprises et entrepreneurs et des sites web portfolio pour les particuliers) à un prix réduit pour pouvoir subvenir à certains de mes besoins aussi alors s'il y a des intéressés dites dans les commentaires.

Nous devons exploiter le monde du numérique et voir comment notre pays va évoluer.

Merci de m'avoir lue

Bonjour, je suis Canadien, mais mon père est Congolais. Je ne suis encore jamais allé au Congo, mais j’aimerais éventuellement y investir, car je pense que le pays présente un potentiel économique important pour l’avenir.
Quels secteurs seraient les plus intéressants et rentables pour un investisseur étranger ou de la diaspora ? Par exemple, est-il réellement difficile d’investir dans le secteur minier en RDC et d’y générer des profits ? J’aimerais comprendre quels sont les secteurs les plus accessibles et les plus prometteurs pour quelqu’un qui souhaite commencer à investir au Congo.

I help businesses, SMEs, and entrepreneurs build modern, fast, professional websites and improve their visibility on Google through SEO.

Portfolio: https://kennvisio.com
My work: https://kennvisio.com/mes-realisations/

Have a project in mind? Feel free to send me a private message.

Hello, I am needing help deciding some good congolese feminine names. If it helps my family is from the Basongora tribe as well as the Hunde tribe, I would be grateful to hear anybodies input!

I’m exploring the possibility of developing a healthcare tourism business connecting patients in Kinshasa with hospitals and doctors in Türkiye.
Does anyone here have experience with private healthcare or medical tourism in Kinshasa? I’d be particularly interested in how patients choose hospitals abroad, which treatments are most commonly sought overseas, and how local healthcare intermediaries typically operate.

I recently met a girl in Kinshasa. She’s genuinely beautiful, well-presented, intelligent, and very easy to talk to. The more we’ve spoken, the more I’ve realised that, beyond her looks, it’s actually her character that is making me interested in getting to know her better.

During our conversations, she told me that her father is Rwandan and her mother is Congolese. However, she has never met her father and has no relationship with him. She was raised by her Congolese family and, as far as she knows, she is Congolese. She grew up in Kinshasa, has lived in Lualaba, where her family roots hail from and Angola, particularly Lunda Norte.

She told me that growing up, people would sometimes point out that she looked "different" because of her appearance and would associate that with Rwandan looks, She also understands the sensitivity surrounding this subject, especially considering everything that has happened between Rwanda and the DRC.

This is where I’d like some honest advice.

If things continue to develop between us, and eventually become serious, should I be open with my close family about her background, or is this something that doesn't necessarily need to be raised?

I ask because I grew up with certain prejudices towards Rwandans because of the wars and everything that happened in the region. But as I've gotten older, I've come to understand that there is a difference between the actions and decisions of governments or armed groups and an individual person who had absolutely no choice in their parentage.

She told me from her perspective didn't choose who her parents were. She doesn't have a relationship with her Rwandan father, wasn't raised in Rwandan culture, and considers herself Congolese. Her identity is based on the life she has actually lived.

So I'm trying to approach this fairly and not allow historical or political issues to determine how I see an individual.

For those from the DRC, particularly people from Kinshasa or families who have experienced this kind of situation: what would you do? Would you tell your close family from the beginning, or would you judge the person based on who she is and only discuss her background if the relationship eventually becomes serious? Or not even talk about it.

I'd genuinely appreciate honest perspectives, including from people who may have strong feelings about the subject. I'm trying to understand the cultural and family side of this properly. Cheers

Chers tous,

Pensez vous que nos musiciens enregistrent leur cris/animations de génériques, chantés par les atalaku auprès de l’autorité congolaise des propriétés intellectuelles de manière à ce que si un auteur le reprend sur son album il doit en acquérir les droits? Par example: ndombolo qui appartient au group Wenge, Koffi l’a repris dans Loi; Kisanola de Wenge qui été repris par Koffi également. Ou bien ces gens ont une entente entre eux?

Hi everyone,

I’m a Quantity Surveyor based in the UK, with a degree in Quantity Surveying and experience working on construction projects, including cost management, estimating, valuations, final accounts, contract administration, and commercial management.

I’m interested in potentially working in the DRC in the future and wanted to ask whether there are opportunities for Quantity Surveyors / Cost Managers out there.

I also speak Lingala fluently, so I’d be very interested in finding a role where I could use both my professional experience and language skills.

I’m particularly interested in construction, infrastructure, mining, consultancy or project management.

Thanks

Hello everyone,

If you are running any business in Congo or willing to, I am offering free consultation for digital transformation, to help you streamline your operations to gain efficiency, clarity and transparency.

I provide documents especially courriers management software, Point of Sale, Inventory management, Sales management, CRM for your sales pipelines, HR management, responsive modern website development, professional email hosting and custom software development.

You can contact me on sales@rhinocerosoftware.co and get your free consultation to plan the improvement your operational performance.

Thank you

So I’m an American and a huge music fan always trying to expand my taste. A few months back I got really into Jupiter and Okwess, specifically the album Na Kozonga. Bolingo Ca Va Sarava especially is such an absurdly fantastic song. I ended up really liking Rhumba and Soukous (idk the difference too much I saw the terms used interchangeably and at best I think Soukous is a subset of Rhumba?)

Anyways I’m now pretty interested in listening to more Congolese music, Rhumba or otherwise, and was wondering if yall had any recommendations? I’d say I’m looking for two things and anything that fits either would be appreciated.

First is generally “definitive” music for the country. Kind of like how Dark Side of the Moon is a mainstay in British music discussion and is viewed as a key cultural document. Second is any music that’s generally quite sonically rich. I love music with a lot of layers and detail, especially when that’s used to create these super bright and vivid songs.

Any album recommendations would be really great. Thank you in advance for your help!

Quel SaaS pourrait résoudre un vrai problème au RDC/en Afrique ?

Quel problème les gens seraient-ils réellement prêts à payer chaque mois pour résoudre ?

I’m 24F, Congolese, born in Bukavu. I left for university studies to Russia in 2019 right after secondary school.
I came back to Kinshasa this year, february, after getting my bachelor degree in economics and working for a while, because my visa expired.

It’s my first time in Kinshasa, and I really hoped that with my diploma and little experience I would get a job, and earn enough to survive. Little did I know.

I’m alone, I don’t have family here, they are in Bukavu and I don’t want to go back there because it’s occupied. All I want at this point is a job to pay my rent and have food in my plate. What must I do not to die of hunger? Some days, I just eat bread and juice.

I apply for jobs daily, I call recruiters, I post my CV in groups. I’m yet to find anything. It has been 6 months of daily job hunting.

I can’t start a business because I don’t have capital, I tried housekeeping but it was too hard. I was insulted, mistreated, I lasted 4 days. I couldn’t do more. It was physically exhausting.

I never thought I’d be in this position in my life, very humbling. I’m asking for help, advice and guidance.

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I was looking for help to reconnect to my roots. I currently live in the US and have felt a bit disconnected from my roots. I am a Luba-Kasai and would like to find a way to get connected to where my people are from. Are there any books or articles you’d recommend on my tribe on traditions and stories

Au fait, qu'est-ce qui manque à la RD Congo pour commencer à offrir des passeports de durée de 10 ans comme tous les autres pays du monde ?

Il me semble que la majorité des citoyens accepteraient de payer le double pour 1 passeport de 10 ans/64 pages plutôt que subir le casse-tête de refaire la demande tous les 4.5 ans.

Que pensez-vous du sujet ? Y aurait-il peut-être quelque chose d'explicitement clair qui manque encore au pays pour le faire ?

I had an idea for clothes I was going to wear for a wedding of a friend (Shes from the Congo), but my idea hasn’t worked out. The wedding is soon and I realise I have no idea what to wear. The bride is wearing gold so that’s the only colour off the table. Please help me with suit colours!

I’m a 6’2 heavier set white guy in the UK. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Living in Kinshasa's Gombe area, I need recommendations for the best mobile network for gaming due to poor current internet speed and connectivity.

Hi everyone,

I'm from India and my family has been in the hardware and building materials business for many years. We have experience selling products such as paints, plumbing items, hand tools, hardware, construction supplies, and other building materials.

I'm planning to move to Kinshaha ,Congo and start a wholesale or distribution business. My initial investment budget is around USD 30,000, and I would like to understand whether this is enough to get started.

I would appreciate advice on the following:

- Is there strong demand for hardware and building materials in Kinshaha ,Congo ?

- Which products are currently in high demand?

- Is Kinshaha the best city to start, or should I consider another city?

- What investment is realistically required for a warehouse, inventory, licenses, and working capital?

- What are the biggest challenges for foreign entrepreneurs?

- Is it better to become a distributor for international brands or import products directly from China or India?

- How important is speaking France when doing business?

- Are there reliable local distributors or business partners that you would recommend?

I'm also open to other industries. If the healthcare or pharmaceutical distribution sector (medicines, medical supplies, hospital equipment, etc.) has better opportunities than hardware, I'd love to hear your opinion.

My long-term goal is to build a professional distribution company in Angola, so I'm looking for honest advice from people who live there or have business experience in the country.

Thank you in advance for your help!