KINSHASA: In crisis-hit Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), people in the capital increasingly turn to street hawkers to feed themselves and their families cheaply, but the makeshift option is often not a hygienic one.
From civil servants and students, to construction workers and parents with their children, hungry Kinshasa residents depend on so-called malewas, or street food sellers, whose numbers have grown as the economy has worsened.
“Here, I eat my fill for under 2,000 Congolese francs ($1.1),” said Jose Bangamba, a 29-year-old taxi driver.
Leaning over a plate of chicken in gravy, which cost him just 1,500 francs, Bangamba also tucked into a side dish of fufu, a traditional recipe made from cassava flour that cost 400 francs.
“In a normal restaurant, this meal would have cost me at least 10 times more. How can I possibly afford that?” he said.
DR Congo has been mired in political and economic unrest for years. A fall in commodity prices that hit the country’s mining industry, leading to mass job losses, sparked a crisis in mid-2015.
The slump in production left the government without a much-needed source of revenue. The situation has been further compounded by high inflation after a fall in the Congolese currency.
Since December, the political crisis has also worsened, with President Joseph Kabila refusing to step down despite his mandate coming to an end. Though the vast central African nation is rich in mineral wealth and water, it has long been one of the continent’s poorest nations and rising unrest has only deepened the economic malaise.
For the past year and a half, malewas have become massively popular in Kinshasa, home to 10 million people.
And it is not just those looking for a cheap meal who are turning to malewas; it is also housewives like Marie Aloka Hioma, who have started selling hot food in front of their Kinshasa homes.
Better known as Mama Marie, the 48-year-old mother of eight said she set up her malewa six years ago “to pay my children’s school fees.”
Customers for her malewa stand in line from 5 a.m. every day, waiting to be served from pots of fish, chicken, meat and pondu, a local dish made from cassava leaves and vegetables.
DR Congo’s street food mushrooms as crisis grows
DR Congo’s street food mushrooms as crisis grows
Saudi Arabia’s NDMC raises $13bn for infrastructure projects
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia raised $13 billion through a seven-year syndicated loan as the Kingdom steps up funding for infrastructure projects spanning power, water and public utilities.
The financing was arranged by the National Debt Management Center as part of the government’s medium-term borrowing strategy, which aims to diversify funding sources and secure financing at competitive costs, the agency said in a statement.
The transaction supports Saudi Arabia’s broader push to upgrade infrastructure under its Vision 2030 economic transformation program, as the government accelerates investment in utilities and development projects alongside private-sector participation.
“This transaction aims to leverage market opportunities to execute alternative government financing activities that contribute to economic growth, including the financing of development and infrastructure projects aligned with Saudi Vision 2030,” said NDMC.
NDMC was established in 2015 within the Ministry of Finance as the Debt Management Office before being restructured into its current form, with a mandate to manage public debt and meet the government’s financing needs across short-, medium- and long-term horizons.
The syndicated loan follows a series of recent debt market transactions. In December, the center raised SR7.01 billion ($1.87 billion) through a domestic sukuk issuance split across five tranches, with the first one valued at SR1.23 billion set to mature in 2027.
The second tranche amounted to SR335 million, maturing in 2029.
The third tranche was valued at SR1.180 billion maturing in 2032, and the fourth tranche was SR1.692 billion set to expire in 2036.
The fifth tranche was worth SR2.573 billion, maturing in 2039.
In September, NDMC completed the issuance of a $5.5 billion (SR20.63 billion) international sukuk under the Kingdom’s Global Trust Certificate Issuance Program.
The offering — the country’s first international sukuk based on an Ijarah structure — was issued in two tranches. A five-year sukuk maturing in 2030 raised $2.25 billion (SR8.44 billion), while a 10-year tranche maturing in 2035 secured $3.25 billion (SR12.19 billion, NDMC said at the time.
The center added that the issuance aligns with its strategy to diversify the investor base and meet Saudi Arabia’s financing requirements through international debt capital markets in an efficient and effective manner.
