Jeune Afrique talks about the salary payment of the civil servants in the DRC

28.10.2013, Kinshasa, DRC – The October 27 to November 9 issue of Jeune Afrique magazine features an article entitled ‘RD Congo – La saga des salaires’ (RD Congo – The salaries’ saga).

The article takes a look at the payment of civil servant salaries via the banking system. Reporter Nicolas Teisserenc joins a TMB team and travels to Feshi, in Bandundu province, 700 km east of Kinshasa, where TMB manages remote area teacher payroll services.

During the past two years, the government, led by Prime Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo, has dismantled the Congo’s legacy civil service payroll system and subcontracted the process to the banking sector. For Nicolas Teisserenc, this constitutes a “revolution for the one million civil servants of the state whose salaries were massively eroded by intermediaries”.

Nicolas Teisserenc notes the benefits of the initiative in term of transparency; indeed the old system had consequences such as salary arrears, misappropriation of funds and the existence of thousands of fictitious civil servants on the payroll register.

Teisserenc also highlights the difficulties of the implementation of the project, in particular when it comes to transportation infrastructure.  Implementing the project is a huge technical challenge for the banks in a country of 2.35 millions square kilometres, with only a few thousand kilometres of paved roads.

TMB has been pivotal in securing successful implementation of the project, with the Bank being responsible for managing almost 30% of all payrolls under the programme.

The article is published in the issue of Jeune Afrique on sale this week.

Click here to access the article online.