• Congo launched a 30,000-ton oil plant with Eni to supply Italy’s biofuel production.

• The project will support 80,000 hectares of local crop development and livestock feed.

• Congo remains a raw material supplier, with processing done abroad.
  

Denis Sassou Nguesso, the President of the Republic of Congo, on June 28, officially inaugurated a new soybean and sunflower oil extraction facility in the southern Bouenza region. This facility, built by Italian energy major Eni, signals Congo's entry into the company's global biofuel value chain.

Named the Arturo Bellezza Agri-hub, the plant boasts an annual capacity of 30,000 tons of vegetable oil. This output is destined for Italy, where Enilive, Eni's sustainable mobility subsidiary, will process it into biofuels at its refineries.

While the project's exact investment cost remains undisclosed, Agriculture Minister Paul Ngobo said it presents a dual benefit for the local economy. Beyond oil extraction, the facility is expected to repurpose the byproducts of soybean and sunflower meal into animal feed, directly bolstering local livestock farms. These new domestic markets are expected to catalyze growth in Congo's nascent soybean and sunflower agricultural sectors.

Eni aims to cultivate 80,000 hectares of soy and sunflower by 2026 through a farmer supply program. This initiative not only secures a consistent biomass source for Eni's expanding biofuel portfolio but also seeks to professionalize local agricultural value chains by connecting farmers to a high-value industrial market.

Despite the clear economic potential, the project spotlights a familiar challenge: the distribution of value within the biofuel chain. With final processing occurring in Italy, Congo, for now, remains primarily a raw material supplier. The task for Congolese authorities is now to leverage this momentum, fostering local second-stage processing and even domestic biofuel production to maximize the nation's economic gains.

Eni's investment in Congo is a strategic move within its broader pan-African drive to secure biofuel feedstocks. The company announced plans in 2023 to nearly triple its vegetable oil production capacity in Africa to 700,000 tons by 2026, with similar hubs planned or operational in Kenya, Mozambique, Angola, and Côte d'Ivoire.

Written in French by Stéphanas Assocle,

Translated and adapted into English by Mouka Mezonlin