The city of Beni, the provisional capital of the North Kivu provincial institutions, has been experiencing a rise in cement prices for several days.
The price of a bag has jumped from 11 to 13, or even 14 US dollars on the market. Customs brokers attribute this situation to high demand for cement at the HIMA factory in Uganda.
Eugène Matembela, president of the Congolese Association of Licensed Customs Brokers (ACCAD), Beni chapter, also indicates that a new tax, introduced by the government and integrated into the SYDONIA system, has contributed to this increase.
“When trying to register a cement declaration, we noticed the addition of a tax called the ‘toxic tax.’ This tax, recently instituted in the SYDONIA system for construction materials like cement, is very high,” he stated. He also specified that work is underway with other partners to convince the government to reconsider this new tax.
Anderson Shada Djuma/Beni
Actu30 / MCP, mediacongo.net via IMCongo.com
