THE Democratic Republic of Congo is developing plans for its first stock exchange, with the Kinshasa bourse potentially operational as early as next year, said Bloomberg News.
Finance minister Doudou Fwamba Likunde Li-Botayi told Bloomberg the planned exchange would list securities in both Congolese francs and US dollars, reflecting an economy in which over 95% of banking deposits and more than 80% of public securities are already dollar-denominated. The government is working with the International Finance Corporation to establish a capital markets framework in the interim.
Li-Botayi said the dual-currency structure acknowledged economic reality while keeping sight of longer-term goals around domestic currency adoption.
Congo follows Ethiopia and Somalia, which launched equity markets in 2025, and Zimbabwe, which established a dollar-denominated exchange in 2020.
The timing may favour Kinshasa, said Bloomberg. As Africa’s largest copper producer and a major source of cobalt and lithium, Congo is drawing intensifying investor interest tied to demand for minerals critical to artificial intelligence infrastructure. The IMF expects booming metals exports to make Congo Africa’s fifth-largest economy this year.
African equities more broadly are performing strongly, with Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya all ranking among the world’s 20 best-performing indexes this year as investors diversify away from Asian technology stocks and into commodity-linked markets.
The Kinshasa exchange is intended to widen companies’ access to capital and capitalise on growing foreign appetite for exposure to Congo’s resource-driven growth.
