Business

Kenya Airways and Congo’s airline sign partnership agreement 

Friday, April 23rd, 2021 00:00 | By
President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Congolese host Felix Tshisekedi applaud the Kenya Airways and Congo Airways signed partnership agreement that will see the two national carriers partner in areas of mutual interest. Photo/PSCU

Lewis Njoka and PSCU

President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Congolese host Felix Tshisekedi yesterday oversaw the signing of a partnership agreement between Kenya Airways and Congo Airways.

The agreement signed in Kinshasa, on the last day of President Kenyatta’s three-day State visit of DR Congo, will see the two national carriers partner in areas of mutual interest including air craft maintenance, training and sharing of excess capacity.

Also included in the two-year agreement, whose overarching objective is viability and sustainability of the airlines, is a route and code sharing provision aimed at expanding the carriers domestic, African and international networks.

The partnership agreement was signed by Kenya Airways Group CEO Allan Kilavuka and his Congo Airways counterpart Desire Balazire Bantu.

Present during the signing ceremony were Foreign Affairs CS Raychelle Omamo, her Devolution counterpart Eugene Wamalwa and Kenya’s Ambassador to DR Congo George Masafu.

On Wednesday, President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled the new brand of Equity BCDC, a subsidiary of Equity Group Holdings Plc in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Successful acquisition

The Head of State also toured the 18-floor Equity Centre building in Kinshasa, the head office of Equity BCDC which will also serve as the head office for the Central Africa region where Equity is looking to expand into.

Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, President Kenyatta lauded Equity for the successful acquisition, integration and merger to create Equity BCDC, now the second largest commercial bank in the DRC.

He urged private investors to optimise the opportunities availed by regional co-operation frameworks such as Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to create regional supply chains.

Equity BCDC, has a balance sheet in excess of $3 billion (Sh325.5 billion) and a nationwide footprint of 74 branches and a customer base of over one million. 

The AfCFTA aims to, among other goals, create a single market, deepen the economic integration of the continent, aid in the movement of capital and people and facilitate investment.

It also seeks to achieve sustainable and inclusive social economic development, and to encourage industrial development.

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