• Fogec launched Bokeli on February 3 in Kinshasa to digitize financing applications
• The platform standardizes business plans and reduces administrative hurdles
• DRC startups raised $2 million in 2024; Fogec backed about 300 projects in five years

The Fonds de garantie de l’entrepreneuriat au Congo (Fogec) on Tuesday, February 3, launched in Kinshasa a digital platform dedicated to business plan development and the dematerialization of financing application processes. Named Bokeli, the initiative aligns with efforts by Congolese authorities to strengthen support for project promoters and improve access to credit for SMEs and startups.

Accessible at https://bokeli.fogec.cd/, the platform allows entrepreneurs to structure their projects using digital tools for business plan design, preparation of financial files, and electronic submission to relevant institutions. It aims to standardize the information required by financial institutions and reduce administrative constraints that slow the review of financing requests.

Through this system, Fogec seeks to address a key challenge in the Congolese entrepreneurial ecosystem: the difficulty many project holders face in presenting technically sound files that meet bank and guarantee scheme requirements. The institution recalls that its mandate is to facilitate access to finance for SMEs, startups, and artisans by providing guarantees for viable projects, in a context where insufficient collateral remains a major barrier to bank credit.

The initiative comes as entrepreneurship continues to grow, driven in part by a young population increasingly engaged in business creation. However, this momentum has yet to translate into structured financing. Partech Africa data, which tracks funding rounds above $100,000 across the continent, show that DRC startups raised $2 million in 2024, up from $1 million in 2023, levels that remain modest relative to the market’s potential. Fogec reports that over five years it has supported nearly 300 projects for a total amount of about $3.2 million.

In this context, issues related to project formalization, business plan quality, and procedural complexity are regularly cited by financial sector players. By providing a digital tool focused on these critical stages, Fogec aims to strengthen project bankability and streamline interactions between entrepreneurs, guarantee bodies, and financial institutions, with the goal of more effectively supporting the development of the national productive base.

Samira Njoya