Created in 1869, the FINASUCRE group produces brown, blond, white and refined sugars from cane and beet, marketed in industry and large distribution. It also produces caramels and specialties. It sells renewable energy in the form of electricity. It produces alcohol, molasses, beet pulp and other animal feed products.

Through its subsidiary Galactic, FINASUCRE is a major producer of lactic acid and its derivatives, and conducts research into the production of biodegradable and recyclable plastics. The engineering and production of equipment for sugar mills completes the range of Finasucre’s activities. The group has factories in Belgium, the Netherlands, Democratic Republic of Congo, Australia, China and the USA.

The group operates a concession of 11,700 hectares under sugar cane in the Democratic Republic of Congo and owns 14,700 hectares of farmland in Australia, as well as 4,900 hectares of land with development potential.

Created in 1925 in Kwilu-Ngongo (Democratic Republic of Congo), the Compagnie Sucrière (CSKN) is one of Finasucre’s subsidiaries and is a semi-public company. where the Congolese state is a 40% partner. The country’s only sugar producer, the company includes sugar cane plantations, a sugar mill and a distillery.

The Challenge

Between 2016 and 2017, Compagnie Sucrière – a cornerstone of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s agribusiness sector – confronted a devastating 31% collapse in sugar sales, plummeting from 101,218 tonnes to just 69,378 tonnes. Alcohol sales followed a similar downward trajectory. This crisis stemmed from three interconnected pressures:

Climate Vulnerability
Unpredictable weather patterns disrupted sugarcane cultivation cycles, reducing yields and compromising harvest quality. As crops faltered, production costs surged.

Economic Headwinds
A nationwide economic slowdown eroded consumer purchasing power. Households prioritized essentials over sugar, shrinking domestic demand.

Market Invasion
Legally and illegally imported sugar flooded local markets. Priced below production costs, these imports undercut Compagnie Sucrière’s competitiveness, squeezing profit margins to unsustainable levels.

The Solution

In 2019, AMSCO launched a multi-year intervention anchored in three pillars: operational restructuring, skills sovereignty, and community regeneration.

Operational Turnaround Through Expert Leadership

AMSCO embedded 27 international specialists across critical roles – Deputy Managing Director, CFO, Supply Chain Manager, and Plant Managers – to overhaul processes. These experts worked shoulder-to-shoulder with Congolese teams, diagnosing bottlenecks in real-time. One priority was supply chain resilience: optimizing harvesting windows around climate volatility and renegotiating supplier contracts to buffer import competition.

Building Local Leadership Pipelines

Beyond immediate fixes, AMSCO established a 2020-2021 training program focused on management and leadership. The goal? To prepare Congolese staff to assume senior roles. Expatriate experts served as mentors, transferring knowledge in financial governance, operational efficiency, and agronomic innovation. This ensured that improvements wouldn’t depart with consultants but would become institutionalized.

Community as the Foundation of Recovery

Recognizing that the company’s fate was tied to community welfare, AMSCO spearheaded infrastructure projects:

• Water & Sanitation: 22 hand pumps brought clean water to workers’ families and neighbourhoods like Tumba and Mvambanu, while dry toilets improved public health.
• Energy & Housing: Solar panels electrified areas near Kwilu-Ngongo, and housing with utilities was provided for police, teachers, and public officials.
• Education & Healthcare: Over 450 students received educational support, while free medical care covered employees and land-rights holders.
• Transport Resilience: The company maintained 17km of roads and bridges without state subsidies, ensuring supply chains and community access endured.

The Ripple Effect: Sustainable Transformation

Within three years, the strategy yielded profound outcomes:

Operational Sovereignty
Local teams now lead daily operations using transferred skills. Production stabilised despite climate pressures, and import competition was mitigated through cost-efficient practices.

Social Capital Restoration
Community trust rebounded as health, education, and infrastructure investments took root. Youth internships integrated 843 Congolese into the workforce, fostering loyalty and local expertise.

Market Resilience
By addressing systemic vulnerabilities – from roads to leadership pipelines – the company built buffers against economic shocks. Profits began funding further community projects, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of growth.

Feronia is an agro-food company with operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

At the heart of Feronia is a long-established palm oil company, Les Plantations et Huileries du Congo S.A. (PHC), incorporated under the laws of the DRC. The Company owns three plantations in the remote areas of Lokutu, Yaligimba and Boteka.

When Feronia acquired 76.17% of the shares of the Company PHC from a branch of Unilever plc in September 2009, the three plantations were suffering from several years of lack of investment and disruptions caused by the conflicts in the DRC.

The Corporation’s first priorities were to rebuild the company and resume production in order to secure its future and that of more than 3,800 internal employees and so many other thousands of jobs that the Corporation generates through its presence in the region. These efforts have included the rehabilitation of the palm oil plants on the Lokutu and Boteka plantations and the construction of a new plant in Yaligimba, which began operations in 2013. The company has also rehabilitated internal road networks, implemented a program to replace palm trees that are more than 25 years old and therefore less productive with new palm trees, and is working to rehabilitate and enrich the social infrastructure.

Feronia plantations produce Crude Palm Oil (CPO) and Palm Kernel Oil (PKO). CPO is part of the traditional staple diet of the Congolese and, through the internal sale of Feronia products in the DRC, the company contributes to the reduction of dependence on imported products and improves food security and the quality of products consumed locally.

Feronia’s vision was to transform PHC into a profitable and sustainable agricultural business that benefits local communities, society at large and inspires investment in the region.

To achieve this vision, PHC has put in place a program of investment and improvement of its operations, skills & capacities of its local staff, through the recruitment of technical experts made available by AMSCO.

The Challenge

Feronia’s vision for transformative agribrowth in the Democratic Republic of Congo confronted two critical hurdles at Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC). First, the need to modernize operations and integrate international best practices across remote plantations demanded specialized expertise unavailable locally. Second, sustainable success hinged on developing Congolese leadership pipelines to reduce reliance on transient expatriate talent. Without skilled local staff prepared to assume management roles, PHC’s long-term viability remained at risk.

These intertwined challenges – operational excellence and leadership development – required a strategic partnership to embed lasting capacity within PHC’s workforce and communities.

The Solution

Since 2016, AMSCO has deployed nearly 30 international experts across PHC’s operations, executing a development plan centered on skills transfer and community investment.

Leadership Development through the PHC Academy of Talents

The cornerstone initiative, the PHC Academy of Talents, was co-designed to prepare 48 Congolese employees for management succession. This comprehensive program targets entry-level leadership positions, combining theoretical training with practical mentorship to cultivate decision-making autonomy.

By focusing on sustainable knowledge transfer rather than temporary fixes, the Academy ensures operational continuity as local staff assume greater responsibilities.

Enhancing Safety and Community Welfare

PHC’s collaboration with the National Institute for Professional Promotion delivered specialized preventive driving training to 65 staff in Yaligimba. The two-week program covered risk anticipation, road safety protocols, and defensive techniques, a critical investment given plantation transportation risks. This initiative aligns with PHC’s broader occupational health strategy to eliminate preventable accidents.

Concurrently, PHC overhauled community health infrastructure, renovating four hospitals, four health centers, and sixteen clinics across the Boteka, Lokutu, and Yaligimba plantations. Upgraded facilities now serve employees, families, and neighboring communities under the Environmental and Social Action Plan (ESAP).

Water Security and Environmental Stewardship

Between 2016 and 2018, PHC drilled 69 wells to provide clean water to communities near its operations, directly addressing waterborne disease risks. Complementing this, a structured waste management system replaced open burning practices in Yaligimba. Household waste is now collected and processed at designated centers, reducing environmental contamination and respiratory health issues.