Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, 23 January 2014
Today, XSML, the fund manager active in Central Africa, announced its investment in Inzia, a Kinshasa based restaurant providing traditional Congolese cuisine. Inzia was established in the 1970s and has gained a long standing reputation for good quality, traditional Congolese food, music and dance. In June 2012 the restaurant was completely destroyed by a fire and has since been partially rebuilt and re-opened with limited service and capacity. XSML’s financing allows the owners to bring the restaurant back to its former glory. Once fully restored the restaurant has a capacity of 400 persons offering Congolese gastronomy for lunch, dinner and special events like weddings and conferences. Inzia’s Friday live music is legendary in Kinshasa as its customers flock to the restaurant to eat and dance the Congolese rumba.
Inzia sources its menu ingredients directly from small farmers, producers and fishermen in Congo, thus playing an essential role in the livelihood of many small farmers. Inzia offers traditional dishes from all Congolese provinces and helps preserve Congolese culture. The restaurant has been founded and managed by Mrs Ekila and more recently by her daughter, Mrs Fodderie.
Inzia’s Managing Director, Mrs Fodderie states: “With the long term financing provided by the Central Africa SME Fund, Inzia is now able to rebuild its restaurant to its original state and capacity with a modern kitchen and new fittings. We expect our customers to again enjoy traditional evenings of Congolese cuisine and dance which nowadays are hard to find in Kinshasa.”
Marcel Posthuma, Managing Partner at XSML says: “With our investment we are able to keep this culinary institute in Kinshasa. It has been a point of reference over decades for people looking for local Congolese dishes and music from all parts of Congo. While restoring the restaurant to its former glory, we also add new services like catering.
