Kinshasa is putting pressure on Al Mada, the holding company of the Moroccan royal family (led by King Mohammed VI), to open up the capital of its Congolese subsidiary, Congo Equipment. This offensive is part of a regulatory crackdown led by the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) regarding foreign companies’ access to local markets.
Al Mada’s complete control as the sole shareholder of Congo Equipment In June 2026, Tractafric Equipment International (a subsidiary of Optorg, itself controlled by the Moroccan holding company Al Mada) acquired the remaining 50% stake in Bartrac Equipment from South Africa’s Barloworld Equipment. Following this buyout, the Moroccan group became the sole shareholder of Congo Equipment. Founded in 2007, Congo Equipment is the exclusive dealer of the Caterpillar (CAT) brand in the mining region of the former Katanga (notably Haut-Katanga and Lualaba). It plays a vital and ultra-strategic role for the Congolese economy by supplying and maintaining the heavy machinery used by copper and cobalt mining giants. Given that Congo Equipment holds exclusive distribution rights for Caterpillar equipment in the strategic copper and cobalt production zones located in the former Katanga region, the government considers this company a critical infrastructure provider, rather than a mere private distributor. Regulatory authorities in Kinshasa are applying targeted pressure to ensure that major foreign mining suppliers do not bypass local content regulations. Facing this monopoly now 100% owned by Moroccan capital, authorities in Kinshasa are pressing to force the royal holding company to go public or open Congo Equipment’s shareholding to local or public Congolese investors. Ted Beleshayi Kasanda, the new Director General of the Regulatory Authority for Subcontracting in the Private Sector (ARSP) in the DRC, is leading an aggressive review of agreements connecting foreign groups to local actors. In the copper and cobalt mines of the former Katanga, construction machinery, excavators, and oversized trucks (often supplied by Caterpillar via Congo Equipment) are the lifeline of extraction. If these machines stop or run out of spare parts, the entire global production chain of metals for the energy transition grinds to a halt.
Kinshasa’s vision By considering Congo Equipment no longer as a simple private commercial entity, but as a critical infrastructure provider, the government grants itself heightened oversight. This legitimizes deeper state intervention in the name of national security and economic continuity.
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