Honourable President of the National Assembly, Your Excellency the Vice Prime Minister, Your Excellency Patrick Muyaya, our guest of honour, Your Excellencies Ministers, Honourable Deputies, and Senators, Your Excellencies, my sisters, lady Ambassadors and Ambassadors, Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, and dear friends, All protocol observed, Boyeyi malamu na batu nionso (Welcome to everyone)!
Welcome to the British residence on the occasion of King Charles III's official birthday. May I apologise to our American friends, that we have hijacked the 4th of July this year, for our elections in the UK. This means that I cannot say anything too political as regards to the UK. But I hope I can express my gratitude, M. le Ministre, that the new government of DRC has taken office in time for our event.
Let me also say a few other words of thanks. Thank you to our generous sponsors: Socimex, Rawbank, Vodacom, G4S, Helios Towers, Diageo, Médecins de Nuit and UTEX, without whom this evening would not have been possible. Do not forget to buy raffle tickets - kindly sponsored by Socimex - all proceeds will go to the Banazola Foundation, which supports children across DRC.
And thank you to my team who have worked hard, not just for today, but every day to help make a difference.
Last year was the first KBP in Kinshasa in an independent DRC. That means that a year has passed. A wise woman, Marie Chantal Kaninda, told me that when I come to understand this country, I will love it. Excellencies, distinguished guests, may I let you into a secret? I fear that I will never be able to fully understand this vast, beautiful, complex, fascinating, diverse country. But, ladies and gentlemen, I can tell you that nevertheless, already …. I love it.
3 things I would like to share by way of reflection:
1. DRC matters to the UK and to the world
The President has set out the importance of DRC as a solution country, whose future is vital to humanity's future. The Congo Basin is the largest carbon sink in the world. DRC's cobalt and copper are necessary for the energy transition. DRC is the beating heart of Africa. And the 100 million plus Congolese matter.
2. The UK is present in DRC
- Wherever I go, I find people with UK connections doing good things.
- Last week I was in the southeast, meeting entrepreneurs and businesspeople in Kolwezi and Lubumbashi, who are exporting frozen pondu to the US, and keeping cobalt copper mines safe for workers.
- In eastern DRC, British humanitarian workers are helping survivors of rape and the war-wounded.
- Two weeks ago, I saw how Professors Simon Lewis and Raphael Tshimanga are working in partnership to record and protect the peatlands of the Congo Basin.
- In Kinshasa, we have the British Congolese community group, and the British Congolese Business Group who have recently created chapters in Lubumbashi and Kolwezi.
- Look at the panels around the garden highlighting prominent British people of Congolese heritage. Wissa doesn't only score goals for the Leopards but also Brentford in the English Premier League!
- And you may not know that quinine from Bukavu is exported to the UK to make award-winning Fever Tree tonic. What further proof of UK-Congolese partnership than London gin and Congolese tonic do you need? Together, we make a great cocktail!
3. We can go further… together
We still do not know each other as well as we might. It remains my firm conviction that the more we know and understand each other, the more opportunities we will find to do good things together. Whether that is developing carbon markets, or bringing solar power to homes; ensuring secure airports, developing food production, or supporting high quality universal health care. That will require effort from both sides.
We can highlight the opportunities in DRC; British investors will want to see a stable regulatory environment before they enter the market. We can highlight female leadership by sponsoring young ambassadors for a day; it is for the DRC to draw on all of its available talent, not just 50% of it - and may I again congratulate SEMme Judith Suminwa, DRC's first woman Prime Minister. We're planning on doubling our aid this year - but we know that real change comes from policy change and private sector investment.
The average Congolese child currently reaches only 37% of their potential according to the Human Capital Index; imagine if every child had access to safety, nutrition, health care, education? Congo has 80 million hectares of arable land; imagine if it was a food exporter rather than a country dependant on imports, leaving 25 million food insecure people. Congo shares its name with the mighty river flowing past here; imagine if its clean energy were harnessed to power households and business across the continent? And of course, imagine what could come from lasting peace in the beautiful east, instead of the terrible violence we see today.
The possibilities are there, and they are exciting; I hope the UK can play its part in supporting Congolese leadership to deliver transformative change.
Feti malamu (Enjoy the party)!
Without further ado, may I invite His Excellency Patrick Muyaya to take the floor.
