Ibrahim Issaoui is the founder and CEO of Socimex Group, a multinational corporation operating in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Issaoui founded Socimex and its sister companies in the Group in 1998 and considers Congo his second home. As such, he has built his businesses to respond to the key needs and services of the country and has devoted the Group to helping to build a better future for the Congolese people.
“The economic and social development of our country, the DRC, requires the combination of several integrated initiatives and projects, including developing road and energy infrastructure in order to connect the centers of production with the centers of consumption,” Issaoui told L’Essential Magazine in 2021.
Ibrahim Issaoui also emphasized on the importance of “reforming the Congolese educational system to include training of many more skilled workers and technicians; and, finally, focusing on a progressive agricultural policy with the objective of food self-sufficiency by 2025,” in his interview with the magazine.
Socimex Group takes its name from its foundational business – Socimex, the Group’s original company. Socimex, an import-export trading company, began with the goal of providing Congolese with food staples, including rice, iodized salt, preserved and frozen goods, among many others. Socimex has expanded to several outlets around the country.
The Group’s Congo Oil business seeks to transform the country’s traditional production of vegetable palm oil into modern, industrial production. As its ultimate goal, Congo Oil seeks self-sufficiency in products derived from vegetable palm oil in the DRC.
Businesses need top-tier logistics, and Socitrans, the logistics business of the Group, provides long-chassis service between the port city of Matadi, the City Province of Kinshasa and Bandundu. Socitrans, founded in 2004, boasts a capacity that has enabled it to participate in solving the logistics riddle of a country the size of a continent.
Central Motors, founded in 2007, is the DRC’s exclusive distributor of Hyundai, Mazda, Ashok Leyland and New Holland brands to Congolese consumers. Aligning with the Group’s overarching vision to improve the lives of Congolese, Central Motors aspires to build a Hyundai assembly plant, providing jobs and economic opportunity to the country’s citizens.
Group Socimex is committed to bringing sustainable infrastructure to Congolese. To that end, the Group’s Safrimex construction and engineering company builds highways, commercial and residential buildings, among its other projects. However, Safrimex’s mission is bigger than bricks and mortar, the company says: “We don’t lay roads; we connect cities. We don’t build bridges; we connect communities. We don’t fix hospitals; we help improve the quality of life.” Safrimex was founded in 2001.
Rounding out the Group is Sonades, an electricity and green energy company created to help contribute to the electrification of the country. Established in 2005, Sonades is not only committed to powering the country, but to democratizing the use of renewable energy, making certain that all Congolese can participate in the Green Energy revolution.
Group Socimex is constantly looking to expand to better meet the needs of the Congolese people. In the L’Essential interview, Issaoui said the Group is exploring opportunities in agriculture, livestock and the development of lake and river transportation.
Q-and-A with Ibrahim Issaoui
Q: What are your thoughts about Africa’s potential overall?
A: For the past two decades, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have experienced impressive and sustained economic growth and development. Child mortality has dropped in most countries, and fertility rates have significantly lowered for educated women living in urban areas; smaller families lead to more resources for children and healthier outcomes, aiding development. In fact, as per the World Bank, the population in Africa is rapidly expanding, and the continent will hold an estimated 2.8 billion people by 2060, half of whom will be under 25 years old by then. I believe, with the right policies and actions, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa — and more specifically, the DRC, one of the biggest Sub-Saharan powerhouses — will reap a tremendous demographic dividend from this growth.
Q: What do you see as the DRC’s potential going forward?
A: With a surface area equivalent to Western Europe, the DRC is the largest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. The country has immense potential as it is endowed with exceptional natural resources, hydropower potential and immense arable land.
It is true that the pandemic has had a significant negative impact on growth figures, especially with supply chain bottlenecks and commodities price spikes. However, if we take a step back and look at the big picture, I am confident that the growth elements in the DRC will emerge once again to propel an economic takeoff.
