Overview

Infrastructure is one of the undeniable priorities of the GDRC. Considerable efforts are being made to rehabilitate and modernize the country’s basic infrastructure to consolidate the DRC’s economic integration. The GDRC aims to develop an integrated multimodal transport system by densifying the national road network and modernizing port, airport and rail infrastructure and facilities.

The Tshisekedi administration declared 100 days of infrastructure in 2020, launching a $497 million program on construction.  In March 2021, Félix Tshisekedi officially launched the works of the great project “Tshilejelu”, oriented towards the development of infrastructure in the city-province of Kinshasa and some key cities and territories of the Great Kasai region, namely, Mbuji Mayi, Kabinda, Lusambo, Kananga, Mweneditu and Tshikapa.  The international development banks are major funders for infrastructure in the DRC, as the country has needs in nearly every facet of public and private life.

Foreign firms dominate the construction sector in the DRC.  Chinese firms account for over half of all public works projects in the DRC, and a significant portion of private construction projects.  European construction firms are also major players in the DRC construction industry. 

Leading Sub-Sectors

• Health care infrastructure
• Road infrastructure
• Electrical generation and transmission infrastructure
• Water and sewage infrastructure
• Lodging
• Educational infrastructure

Opportunities

This sector is fully liberalized and open to the private sector through the 2018 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) law, and infrastructure investments are also eligible under the provisions of the DRC’s investment code law.

There are numerous infrastructure construction opportunities for American firms with capital and an appetite for risk.  These infrastructure projects are frequently structured as public-private partnerships; American and European firms face stiff competition from their Chinese counterparts, as Chinese companies often bring their own financing.  Projects are listed on the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works webpages.

Resources

The DRC office “Agence Congolaise des Grands Travaux (ACGT)”, has the mission of designing and managing infrastructure projects in the sectors of Roads, Highways, Ports, Airports, Railways, Architecture, Energy, Telecommunication Infrastructure, and Environment. More information on construction sector in DRC can be obtained from Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works.