DRC asks for UK investment and direct London flight

The Democratic Republic of Congo asked the United Kingdom to increase its investments, facilitate access to its territory for Congolese nationals and open a direct air link between London and Kinshasa. Congolese Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya made the requests on Tuesday 3 November 2026, during the second day of the DRC-UK Economic Forum in London, according to Desk Eco.

Speaking to British business leaders, Julien Paluku presented the DRC as a strategic economic partner and a sub-regional hub. He identified three priorities for cooperation: direct investment, the local processing of agricultural and mining products, and smoother access to markets. He also called for Congolese nationals to be exempted from UK entry visas and for a service operated by British Airways.

Congolese Minister of Communications and Media Patrick Muyaya Katembwe called on British investors to take an interest in critical minerals, mining activities and industrial value chains in the DRC. The British trade commissioner for Africa, Alastair Long, and Baroness Sandip Verma, a member of the House of Lords, discussed the possibility of partnerships in the form of joint ventures and praised Congolese efforts to improve the business climate.

The requests were made during the forum at which the DRC had presented its reforms to British investors on 4 November. They also continue exchanges with the Congolese diaspora discussed on the same day during a session devoted to the DRC-UK Forum: the presentation of Congolese reforms to British investors and the mobilisation of the Congolese diaspora preceded these calls to strengthen economic relations.