🇨🇩 DR Congo → the world · via Kenya

Cinchona Bark & Quinine (Kivu) — Export Supply

The Kivu highlands are one of the world's few remaining commercial sources of cinchona — the tree whose bark yields quinine, used in pharmaceuticals and as the bitter flavour in tonic water and bitter drinks. Plantations around Bukavu supply dried bark and processed quinine salts.

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Market stall with dried botanicals and spices

Overview

We connect pharmaceutical, beverage and botanical-extract buyers with licensed Kivu producers and arrange export documentation and transit through Rwanda or Uganda to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam.

Main markets: Europe, India, USA — pharmaceutical, beverage (tonic) and botanical industries.

Types, grades & specifications

Typical specifications; exact parameters are confirmed per lot on the quotation, inspection report and certificate of analysis.

Type 1 of 2 · 🇨🇩 DR Congo

Dried Cinchona Bark

Sun- or kiln-dried bark of Cinchona ledgeriana / succirubra, quilled or chipped, sold on alkaloid assay.

Sample: $4.00/kg (indicative) Quote this type Order sample

Specifications

Total alkaloids	approx. 5–9%
Quinine content	per assay
Moisture	≤ 12%
Forms	quills, chips, powder
Packing	40–50 kg bales

Type 2 of 2 · 🇨🇩 DR Congo

Quinine Salts (sulphate / hydrochloride)

Pharmaceutical and food-grade quinine salts extracted from Kivu bark, supplied with pharmacopoeia certificates.

Sample priced on invoice Quote this type

Specifications

Grades	Quinine sulphate, hydrochloride (BP/EP/USP)
Assay	per pharmacopoeia
Packing	25 kg fibre drums
Documents	COA, GMP declarations

Producing regions in DR Congo

Region	Notes
South Kivu (Bukavu, Kabare, Kalehe)	Cinchona plantations at 1,500–2,200 m.
North Kivu	Smaller plantings.

Season

Year-round bark harvest.

Packaging

Dried bark: 40–50 kg bales or bags
Quinine salts: fibre drums 25 kg

Export routes

Eastern DRC (Goma, Bukavu, Butembo, Bunia) → Uganda (Kasindi–Mpondwe) or Rwanda (Gisenyi/Rubavu) → Mombasa: 7–12 days by road
Eastern DRC → Kigoma / Lake Tanganyika or by road via Rwanda → Dar es Salaam (Central Corridor)
Katanga copper belt (Lubumbashi, Kolwezi) → Kasumbalesa → Zambia → Dar es Salaam, Durban or Walvis Bay; Lobito Corridor rail via Angola
Western DRC (Kinshasa, Équateur, Kongo Central) → Port of Matadi or Boma on the Atlantic
Air: Goma (GOM), Lubumbashi (FBM), Kinshasa N'djili (FIH) — or via Entebbe / Kigali / Nairobi

Documents

DRC export declaration & licence
OCC inspection / quality certificate
Certificate of Origin (COMESA / SADC / EAC as applicable)
Phytosanitary certificate (agricultural products)
CEEC certificate and ITSCI / ICGLR documentation (minerals)
CITES permit (listed timber species such as afrormosia)
Transit documents (T1, regional bond, RECTS tracking) for Kenya/Uganda/Rwanda routes

HS codes: 1211.90 (bark for pharmacy) · 2939.20 (cinchona alkaloids and salts)

Tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold from eastern DRC are covered by the EU Conflict Minerals Regulation (EU 2017/821), US Dodd-Frank Section 1502 reporting and the OECD Due Diligence Guidance. We only work with licensed exporters using ITSCI or equivalent mine-to-export traceability, ICGLR certificates and third-party audited supply chains. Cobalt exports have been subject to DRC export suspension and quota measures since 2025; availability and quotas are confirmed at the time of contract.

Buyer guides

Guides for importers

Sourcing Countries

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Kivu coffee, fine-flavour cocoa, Katanga copper and cobalt, 3T minerals and Congo Basin hardwoods — and how to move them safely to your port.

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Ready to import from Kenya?

Tell us the product, variety, quantity, Incoterm (FOB / CIF / CFR / DAP) and your destination port or airport. We reply with a formal quotation, usually within one business day.

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