Augustin Dokolo Sanu and his companies (1)

Endowed with a strong flair for business, M. Dokolo became very active in different strategic branches.

He did not choose the classical approach that consists in creating a group of companies in order to give birth to a bank. He chose to do the opposite in order to have the right tool to seize the numerous opportunities that were emanating from conflict between the Congo and Belgium concerning the Mining Union of Katanga.

After the period of radicalization, M. Dokolo understood the Bank of Kinshasa’s vulnerability to political swings and he therefore undertook the creation of a “company belt” around the bank.

When he realised the bad state the bank was in when it was returned to him: destruction of the production units that had been granted to Congolese following the zairianisation, desertion by the customers who were disappointed by the state management method following the radicalisation, M. Dokolo decided to create a belt of companies around the bank as follows:

COFIKI

The COmpagnie FInacière of KInshasa was a limited company created in 1971. The purpose of the company was to finance real estate thanks to shareholders’ equities and customers’ long-term deposits. This sister company to the Bank of Kinshasa held one fifth of its shares.

FIGES

The FIduciaire de GEStion, a limited company was the trust entity that managed share acquisitions in other companies.

Unfamiliar to the public, FIGES was in fact the original owner of the DUNGU building which had been confiscated by the Mobutu regime and handed over to the workers union of Zaire, UNITZA, a creation of the MPR (Mobutu’s party) by simple letter and without compensation.

We know that UNITZA then gave it to Mobutu’s son who brought it into the COBAC Bank that is now being liquidated. The DUNGU building is now one of the belongings the Dokolo heirs are claiming back following the numerous law violations that took place at the time of its seizure.

SOZADEX

The SOciete ZAiroise D’EXportation was a limited company created in Kinshasa on July 9th 1976.It specialized in coffee exportation. It bought coffee from all the provinces and also possessed vast plantations in the Oriental Province and in north Kivu, particularly at Beni.

Sozadex was amongst the biggest coffee exporters in the country.

LUKAYA FARM

The Lukaya Farm was a limited company specialised in pig and poultry breeding. For a long time the farm was one of the pork and egg suppliers of the Kinshasa market. It also owned meat-processing units with cold rooms. It was one of the biggest food suppliers at the time.

OMNIZA

Omniza was a limited company dealing in general trade: foods, clothes and various imported articles that it sold wholesale or retail.

SOKIDET

The SOciété KInoise D’Equipement Technique was a company specialised in refrigeration. It sold industrial air conditioning equipment and installed cold rooms. Sokidet was the second company in Kinshasa after the Belgian Chanimetal and installed most of the cold rooms in Kinshasa during that period.

To be followed…