2019 REGULAR GENERAL MEETING, THE UNION'S LARGEST ANNUAL EVENT

As every year in November, the Union Patronale et Interprofessionnelle du Congo (Unicongo) held its ordinary general assembly for the year 2019 in the economic capital of Congo.

One year after the one held at the Hotel PEFACO Maya-Maya in Brazzaville, the members and associate members of Unicongo participated on 21 November 2019to the ordinary general assembly of the year 2019 at the hotel Elaïs. The opening ceremony and the presentation of various reports were enhanced by the presence of representatives of departmental public administrations and international partner organizations.

Given the very difficult economic context that has persisted since 2014, the presentation of the moral report by Mr. Christian BARROS, Chairman of the Board of Directors, and the reports of the various sectors represented by the professional federations attracted attention, particularly for their information on the the poor performance of the Congolese economy and the very poor prospects for the recovery of the various sectors of the economy economy in general.

The highlight of these reports is thethe Congolese economy and domestic demand will be sluggish in 2019The reports highlight the sluggishness of the Congolese economy and domestic demand in 2019, despitethe 5% annual growth forecasts announced by international organizations, based on an average oil price of between US$50 and US$65 per barrel and oil production that is expected to rise from 16.5 million tons in 2018 to 18 million tons in 2019.

All the reports from the non-oil sectors came back on the poor business climate and the domestic debt situationwhich are severely hampering the recovery of national economic activity. The diversification of the economy has been unanimously recognized as essential, given the overwhelming weight of oil in GDP and exports. Unfortunately, the cost of factors, logistical deficiencies, inconsistencies in sectoral economic decisions and the poor business climate are unfavorable to this diversification.

Unicongo has consistently invested all of its energy in the establishment of a true public-private dialogue.the establishment of a true public-private dialogueat a time when it is essential to mobilize energies for the revival of private investment in the non-oil sector. The general assembly was closed by the election of the new board of directors of Unicongo recently renewed, chaired for the next three years by Mr. Alphonse MISSENGUI of Score Casino, former vice-president, succeeding Mr. Christian BARROS, who led Unicongo from 2004 to 2019.

Alphonse MISSENGUI has for Vice-President, Mr. Christophe PUJALTE of Bolloré Transport & Logistics, and for Treasurer, Mr. Prosper BIZITOU of Price Waterhouse Coopers.

As priorities, the new office aims to accelerate the opening of Unicongo to Congolese SMEsin order to widen its base of members, to intensify its meetings with the partner administrations to create the preliminary conditions of a reciprocally useful dialogue and to resort as much as possible to the legal way in front of the legal abuses of certain public administrations which contribute to the degradation of the business climate.