AS Monaco - DR Congo: an empty shell of a partnership?

For several years, a number of people have lobbied the Ministries of Sport and Tourism to negotiate a sponsorship deal with a major European football club on behalf of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Taking their cue from Azerbaijan or Rwanda, these Congolese figures were quickly disillusioned. Atlético Madrid (2022/2023), AC Milan (2024) or Olympique Lyonnais (2024): each time the attempt fell through, mainly because of a proliferation of intermediaries and ministerial greed, with officials keen to take control of the files and the commissions that came with them.

The failed Lyon deal

Last October, for example, an OL delegation led by the then managing director, Laurent Prud’homme, was received in Kinshasa for several days. At the sports minister's office, he gave him two shirts printed with his name, Budimbu, and the number 10, with two slogans on the back below it: Destination DR Congo or Experience DR Congo.

Read also: After Rwanda and Ivory Coast, the DRC enters the sports sponsorship game with "Experience DRC"

On 10 October, the Lyon delegation even had a brief exchange with the head of state, Félix Tshisekedi, on the sidelines of the AFCON 2025 qualifier against Tanzania. The president then invited the Lyon representatives to discuss the project at greater length after the match. Prud’homme declined, saying he had a "plane to catch" ; a reply that shocked most of those present, even though he denied having flatly rejected the offer.

In the end, talks continued and were due, in theory, to conclude on 11 November 2024 at the derby against Saint-Étienne. However, the Congolese side proved unable to complete its part in time. Budimbu attended anyway, and was noted above all for his insistence on taking photos with the Lyon executives in the box.

That unexpected delay was never made up, amid a muddle involving the project's instigator, Luc Mangala, whose mandate expired at the end of January. In the midst of this chaos, a Lyon lawyer, Thierry Braillard, was mysteriously parachuted into the deal, with nobody able to explain how; Prud’homme said off the record that his arrival was down to the Congolese side, while Kinshasa claimed the opposite.

A disastrous idea: by deliberately waiting for Mangala's mandate to run out, the two parties watched the war in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and press leaks take over and definitively kill off a possible deal worth between five and six million euros per season.

Cisco Mulongo, the self-proclaimed Congolese "Bernard Tapie"

Alongside the OL talks, a memorandum of understanding was also signed with AC Milan on 20 September 2024 under the auspices of the Tourism Minister, Didier M’Pambia Musanga, with his slogan "Explore the DRC, the heart of Africa." It was another project that betrayed a lack of coherence and unity within the government and that was never officially ratified in the end, with no explanation given.

Despite these failures and the war raging in the east, the sports minister did not give up on the idea of football sponsorship. Although he had not originated any of the projects in question - the DRC was originally represented in Lyon by Lydie Omanga, then the head of communications for the head of state - he now set out in search of a French club with one of his advisers, Cisco Mulongo.

Mulongo was part of the Congolese delegation's first trip, but was then sidelined because of his behaviour and the photos he posted on social media when confidentiality had been requested; he had been the link with Budimbu. The self-proclaimed Congolese "Bernard Tapie" was therefore back in the talks with Monaco, which began just after the Lyon and Milan negotiations ended.

With legal advice from...Thierry Braillard, whose role was glorified in an odd article in Africa Intelligence that lauded Budimbu's decisions and the new Congolese policy of "soft power" - which absolutely does not reflect reality - the Congolese Ministry of Sports agreed a three-year contract with AS Monaco worth 1.6 million euros per season.

Social media posts, a logo on a sleeve...

Rid of the instigators of the projects (and therefore of their payments), the Ministry of Sports is now acting alone. The problem is that, unlike the Atlético, Milan and OL deals, the AS Monaco project is woefully short of concrete actions.

In short, the plan provides for posts on Monaco's social media accounts to improve the DRC's "visibility". Beyond that? Nothing, or almost nothing: Jeune Afrique reported that the Ministry of Sports has obtained a box with 8 VIP packages for figures interested in investing in Congo. In short, nothing at all, other than perks and facilities for the Ministry of Sports.

Worse still, the "visibility" is in reality limited, since the deal simply provides for the DRC to appear on the shirt sleeve. To compensate, the ministry is pleased that the youth teams (whom the general public does not watch) get a shirt print giving the DRC greater prominence.

With no concrete benefit for sport or Congolese visibility, this agreement signed with AS Monaco is due to be examined by Parliament after the summer break. Several political voices are already speaking out against it, with an underlying question: does this partnership truly serve the interests of the Democratic Republic of Congo or those of its sports minister, Didier Budimbu?

Romain MOLINA