Before you start

Passport, with your visa and entry stamp
Proof of a Lubumbashi address — lease, utility bill or attestation de résidence
Work certificate or contract for a salary account
Passport photographs

Step-by-step

1
Open a mobile-money wallet on arrival
M-Pesa, Airtel Money, Orange Money and Afrimoney open in minutes at an agent on identity documents, and they are explicitly one of the scriptural channels that replaces cash in 2027. In a province where a lot of routine payment is still hand-to-hand, this is the habit to build first.
Mobile appWho: YouMinutesFree to open; per-transaction fees
2
Open a bank account in your first month
Rawbank, Equity BCDC, Trust Merchant Bank, Ecobank and Access all have a Lubumbashi presence, and the mining sector's payroll and trade-finance business means the corporate side of these branches is unusually capable. Most residents keep both a CDF and a USD account, because salaries and rent are quoted in different currencies.
In personWho: YouDays with a complete file; one to four weeks for a company accountVaries; ask for the written tariff sheet
3
Get rent and salary onto transfers now, not in 2027
The cash-dollar rent envelope is the norm here and it is on a deadline. Agreeing bank transfer from the start creates a payment record — which is what you will want when you try to recover a deposit — and means you are not renegotiating your tenancy under time pressure when the prohibition lands.
In personWho: You and your landlordAt the start of the tenancyTransfer charges
4
Know the banknote rules, and know your province backed you up
Traders and changers routinely refuse US notes that are torn, taped, marked or from an older series, a habit with no legal basis. In February 2026 the Haut-Katanga provincial economy minister formally instructed economic operators, changers and traders to accept damaged notes, pointing out that only the Banque Centrale du Congo is competent to judge a note's authenticity. Knowing the instruction exists is occasionally enough to win the argument; carrying clean, flat, recent notes is more reliable.
In personWho: YouEvery cash transaction until April 2027A rejected note is dead money until you reach a bank counter
5
Handle the Zambian border like a currency question
Cross-border trade and travel means kwacha, rand and dollars all circulate in commercial conversation here. Changing money informally on either side of Kasumbalesa is common and is exactly where the counterfeit and short-count problems live. Use a bank or a licensed bureau, and be aware that cash movements across a frontier attract attention on both sides.
In personWho: YouAny border tripBureau spreads are better than the alternative

Documents you’ll need

Passport with visa and entry stamp
Proof of Lubumbashi address
Work certificate or employment contract
Passport photographs
For a company account: notarised and registered incorporation documents, ID for any 10%-plus holder, a beneficial-owner declaration, a banker's reference under three months old, and a FATCA form where US indicators exist

Things most newcomers don’t know

The BCC is banning dollar CASH, not the dollar.

Constantly misreported, and the distinction is the whole substance. From 9 April 2027 any foreign-currency transaction of any amount must be scriptural — transfer, card or mobile money. Pricing in dollars, being paid in dollars and holding dollars all remain legal. In a province that settles contracts in physical currency this is a working-practice change, not a monetary one.

Source: Banque Centrale du Congo, April 2026 package

Haut-Katanga's provincial government has taken a public position on damaged banknotes.

In February 2026 it instructed operators, changers and traders to accept them and reminded everyone that only the central bank judges authenticity. That makes this the one province where you can point at a provincial instruction, and it also tells you how entrenched the refusal habit is — governments do not legislate against things nobody does.

Source: Haut-Katanga provincial instruction, February 2026

Banks already cannot import banknotes, which is why cash feels tight before the deadline.

From 9 April 2026 the BCC alone imports physical foreign currency, as part of securing supply and working the DRC off the FATF grey list. Physical dollar liquidity is now a managed resource, and ATM and counter behaviour reflect that a year ahead of the transaction ban.

Source: BCC measures, April 2026; FATF grey-list context

The policy rate has fallen three times this year.

The BCC cut from 15% to 13.5% in April 2026 and to 12.5% in July 2026, against an appreciating franc. If you are negotiating anything with local financing in it — equipment, a vehicle, a working-capital line — that direction of travel is the backdrop to the conversation.

Source: Radio Okapi, April and July 2026

Common mistakes to avoid

Planning around cash dollars as if April 2027 were not coming
Accepting a cash-only rent arrangement with no payment record, in a province where deposits are large
Arriving with old, torn or taped US notes, or only hundreds
Changing money informally at Kasumbalesa
Assuming a company account opens as fast as a personal one

Some of this may be out of date. Spotted something inaccurate? Help us keep it right for the next newcomer.