Le trafic ferroviaire est interrompu depuis début octobre entre les villes d’Ilebo (Kasaï Central) et de Lubumbashi (Haut-Katanga), à la suite d’une importante érosion survenue dans la cité de Kamupongo. Cette coupure affecte le transport de marchandises et de passagers sur cet axe stratégique reliant le centre au sud de la République démocratique du Congo (RDC).

La société Safrimex a lancé, le 6 octobre 2025, des travaux antiérosifs destinés à stabiliser le sol et à réhabiliter le tronçon endommagé. Ces travaux sont toujours en cours d’exécution, a indiqué le directeur du département Région Nord (DRN) de la Société nationale des chemins de fer du Congo (SNCC), Emmanuel Kalonji, sans fournir de précisions sur le taux d’avancement.

L’interruption du trafic entre Kamupongo et la gare de Kalumba entraîne d’importantes conséquences socioéconomiques. Le chemin de fer demeure en effet le principal moyen de transport pour les populations locales, ainsi que pour l’acheminement des produits pétroliers, agricoles et manufacturés.

En conséquence, selon son DRN, la SNCC n’a pu organiser aucun train-courrier sur les axes Ilebo–Kananga et Kananga–Lubumbashi durant tout le mois d’octobre. Cinq citernes de kérosène appartenant à la SEP-Congo sont ainsi immobilisées dans les installations de la SNCC à Kananga, perturbant la fourniture de carburant dans cette partie du pays.

La dégradation du tronçon avait pourtant été signalée dès avril dernier. Selon les constats des techniciens, l’érosion avait déjà provoqué d’importants affaissements de la voie, rendant le passage des convois dangereux.

Ronsard Luabeya

Lire aussi :

Kasaï : le port d’Ilebo relance ses activités, mais reste freiné par des défis logistiques 

The city of Gbadolite, capital of Nord-Ubangi province, is gradually regaining electricity after a one-year blackout caused by the flooding of the Mobayi-Mbongo hydropower plant on October 23, 2024.

The facility, with an installed capacity of 11.5 MW, has been brought back online, provincial energy minister Didier Dutimo announced on October 26, 2025, in an interview with Top Congo.

Power supply remains limited, however. “Much remains to be done, as parts of the SNEL (National Electricity Company) network vandalized by delinquents still need to be restored to balance the electrical load,” he said without providing further details.

The Mobayi-Mbongo hydropower plant, inaugurated on November 24, 1989, suffered severe damage when floodwaters from the Ubangi River inundated the alternator, control room, and several other components, forcing a complete shutdown.

In the months that followed, SNEL dispatched technical teams from Kinshasa and Inga to attempt repairs, but the work did not allow for an immediate restart, according to local SNEL director Maurice Ewango.

Without power, Gbadolite was plunged into darkness, a situation that severely affected the city’s economic and social activities.

Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup has revealed new details about its plans in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). On October 25, 2025, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with the city-province of Kinshasa to develop an urban project covering about 6,300 hectares, land that will be provided “free of charge” by the city.

According to the group’s announcement, “the project is located between the southern bank of the Congo River and the northern area of N’djili International Airport, a strategic site for the city’s expansion plan.” It aims to create a “new modern urban center” that will become a tourist destination and a symbol of Kinshasa’s progress.

The development will include residential zones, villas, apartments, hospitals, schools, shopping centers, hotels, leisure complexes, and an administrative district for ministries and government agencies.

The Vingroup project will be built in the Maluku commune, which already hosts the ongoing expansion program of the city of Kinshasa. Its content and objectives appear consistent with this larger program, which plans a new city covering 43,000 hectares about 60 kilometers from the urban center, suggesting that the Vingroup project could become one of its components.

However, the Strategic Supervision Committee for the Kinshasa City Expansion Project (CSSPEVK) is not a signatory to the October 25 memorandum, raising potential coordination and alignment challenges between the two initiatives.

Focus on clean mobility

In addition to real estate, the memorandum includes a green mobility program for Kinshasa. Through its subsidiary VinFast, founded in 2017 and specializing in electric vehicles, Vingroup plans to progressively replace about 300,000 combustion vehicles with electric ones and deploy electric buses and taxis operated via its Green and Smart Mobility (GSM) solution, already active in Vietnam.

On its official website, VinFast lists electric vehicles priced between $10,800 and $59,900, marketed in Germany, Canada, the United States, and several Asian countries.

The provincial government is expected to provide sites for installing charging infrastructure. The green mobility project is expected to cut greenhouse gas emissions and improve air quality in the capital. As of October 15, 2025, Swiss firm IQAir, which monitors air quality, ranked Kinshasa among the world’s most polluted cities, with air quality considered unhealthy.

The signing of the memorandum with Kinshasa came three days after a meeting between Vingroup Vice Chairwoman Lê Thị Thu Thủy and Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka.

During the meeting, the conglomerate said it had completed the exploratory phase of its projects in the DRC, conducted an initial assessment, and was ready to move into the contractual phase under public-private partnerships. The timeline for the final agreement and the start of the urban project’s implementation has not yet been disclosed.

On en sait désormais un peu plus sur les intentions du conglomérat vietnamien Vingroup en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Le 25 octobre 2025, la société a signé un protocole d’accord avec la ville-province de Kinshasa portant sur le développement d’un projet urbain d’environ 6 300 hectares, attribués « gratuitement » par la ville.

Selon l’annonce du groupe, « le projet est situé entre la rive sud du fleuve Congo et la zone nord de l’aéroport international de N’Djili, un site stratégique pour le plan d’expansion de la ville ». Il vise à créer un « nouveau centre urbain moderne », appelé à devenir une destination touristique et un symbole du progrès de Kinshasa.

Le projet comprendrait des zones résidentielles, des villas, des appartements, des hôpitaux, des écoles, des centres commerciaux, des hôtels, des complexes de loisirs, ainsi qu’un futur quartier administratif destiné aux ministères et agences gouvernementales.

Le projet urbain de Vingroup sera implanté dans la commune de Maluku, qui accueille déjà le programme d’extension de la ville de Kinshasa actuellement en développement. Le contenu et les objectifs de ce nouveau projet semblent alignés avec ce vaste programme visant à bâtir une nouvelle ville sur 43 000 hectares, à environ 60 kilomètres du centre urbain. Ce qui laisse penser qu’il pourrait en constituer l’une des composantes.

Cependant, le Comité stratégique de supervision du projet d’extension de la ville de Kinshasa (CSSPEVK) n’est pas partie prenante au protocole signé le 25 octobre, ce qui soulève des défis de coordination et d’harmonisation entre les deux initiatives.

Qualité de l’air

Outre le volet immobilier, le protocole d’accord prévoit également un programme de mobilité verte pour Kinshasa. À travers sa filiale VinFast, créée en 2017 et spécialisée dans la production de véhicules électriques, Vingroup envisage la conversion progressive d’environ 300 000 véhicules thermiques en véhicules électriques, ainsi que le déploiement de bus et taxis électriques opérés via la solution GSM (Green and Smart Mobility), déjà mise en œuvre au Vietnam.

Sur son site officiel, VinFast indique proposer des véhicules électriques dont les prix varient entre 10 800 et 59 900 dollars américains, commercialisés notamment en Allemagne, au Canada, aux États-Unis et dans plusieurs pays d’Asie.

Pour sa part, le gouvernement provincial devrait mettre à disposition des sites destinés à l’installation des infrastructures de recharge.

Le projet de mobilité verte devrait ainsi réduire les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et améliorer la qualité de l’air dans la capitale. Au 15 octobre 2025, la société suisse IQAir, spécialisée dans la surveillance de la qualité de l’air, classait Kinshasa parmi les villes les plus polluées au monde, avec un niveau d’air jugé malsain.

La signature du protocole d’accord avec la ville-province de Kinshasa est intervenue trois jours après la rencontre entre la vice-présidente de Vingroup, Lê Thị Thu Thủy, et la Première ministre Judith Suminwa Tuluka.

Lors de cet échange, le conglomérat avait indiqué avoir achevé la phase exploratoire de ses projets en RDC, disposer d’un diagnostic de départ et être prêt à passer à la phase de contractualisation dans le cadre de partenariats public-privé. Le calendrier de signature de l’accord définitif avec la ville et celui de la mise en œuvre du projet urbain restent toutefois inconnus.

Timothée Manoke 

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Agriculture, immobilier, infrastructure :  Vingroup cible plusieurs secteurs en RDC

Cité industrielle sino-congolaise : un projet désormais estimé à 12 milliards $

Extension de Kinshasa : un fonds en création pour financer un projet de 50 milliards $

La ville de Gbadolite, chef-lieu de la province du Nord-Ubangi, retrouve progressivement l’électricité après une année d’interruption provoquée par l’inondation de la centrale hydroélectrique de Mobayi-Mbongo, survenue le 23 octobre 2024.

Cette infrastructure, d’une capacité installée de 11,5 MW, vient d’être remise en service, a annoncé le 26 octobre 2025 le ministre provincial de l’Énergie, Didier Dutimo, dans une interview accordée à Top Congo.

La fourniture d’électricité n’est toutefois pas encore optimale. « Beaucoup reste à faire, car le réseau de la SNEL (Société nationale d’électricité) vandalisé par des inciviques doit encore être assaini pour permettre un équilibre de la charge électrique », a-t-il déclaré, sans plus de précisions.

La centrale hydroélectrique de Mobayi-Mbongo, inaugurée le 24 novembre 1989, avait été gravement endommagée après que l’alternateur, la salle de commande et plusieurs équipements eurent été envahis par les eaux de la rivière Ubangi, provoquant l’arrêt total de la production.

Dès le mois suivant, la SNEL avait dépêché des équipes techniques venues de Kinshasa et d’Inga pour tenter de réhabiliter la centrale, mais les travaux n’avaient pas permis une relance immédiate, expliquait alors Maurice Ewango, directeur local de la SNEL.

Privée d’électricité, Gbadolite avait été plongée dans le noir, une situation qui avait fortement affecté les activités socio-économiques de la ville et de ses environs.

Boaz Kabeya

Grace Nkuanga Bilolo, governor of Kongo-Central province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, launched a road rehabilitation project on Oct. 25, 2025, aimed at improving the transport of farm goods to markets.

The project, which began in Kinzau Nvuete in Seke-Banza territory, covers 550 kilometers of rural feeder roads. The work will be carried out in stages, with the first phase focusing on 230 kilometers of priority routes over nine months.

The first phase, financed by the Agency for the Management of Toll and Weighing Rights (AGDP), will cost 3.85 billion Congolese francs (about $1.6 million), or roughly $7,000 per kilometer.

The launch phase includes the Kinzau-Mvuete, Seke-Banza, Mbatassiala, and Lombo-Fuese-Kilukweta sections, located in the Kasangulu and Mbanza-Ngungu territories. The Kongo-Central Public Works Agency will carry out the work.

Governor Bilolo unveiled new civil engineering equipment purchased with provincial funds to support the project. He said the initiative is part of a provincial program to better connect rural areas, aiming to ease the sale of farm produce and improve living standards in local communities.

The governor’s announcement follows a statement by former Rural Development Minister Muhindo Nzangi Butondo in October 2024, outlining a government plan to build and rehabilitate 11,000 kilometers of agricultural feeder roads across the DRC. It was not immediately clear whether the Kongo-Central project is part of that national initiative.

Ronsard Luabeya

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reported illegal imports of Dangote-brand cement through the ports of Linda and Bouming in the Maluku area, in violation of existing import restrictions.

Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya announced the news on the ministry’s official X (Twitter) account on Oct. 27, 2025.

In a related letter sent the same day to the public prosecutor’s office at the Kinshasa-Gombe High Court, the minister called for an immediate investigation to identify and prosecute those behind the illegal operations. Paluku also instructed SEGUCE DRC, the operator of the country’s single-window trade system, to tighten controls in the domestic cement market.

The ministry warned that such practices threaten the local industry. Paluku urged swift action to preserve fair competition, enforce trade regulations, and prevent future incidents in the region.

In July 2024, the government tightened import restrictions by temporarily suspending gray cement and clinker imports in the western and southeastern regions to protect and boost domestic production.

The import suspension, however, has drawn mixed reactions. Some consumers blame it for higher cement prices, which reportedly rose from $8 to $15 per bag in southeastern DRC.

Ronsard Luabeya

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plans to introduce national standards to regulate its public works and construction sector, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Public Works (ITP) said in a statement dated Oct. 22, 2025.

The move follows a decree establishing a National Standards Commission, which has 18 months to design a framework tailored to the country’s geological, climatic, and socio-economic conditions. Implementation of the new standards is expected by 2027.

The commission will include representatives from line ministries, the Roads and Drainage Office (OVD), the Congolese Agency for Major Works (ACGT), the Order of Engineers, universities, and the Federation of Congolese Enterprises (FEC). Its composition aims to combine technical expertise with market needs and contributions from both public and private stakeholders.

Six categories of standards will be developed by specialized sub-commissions to ensure appropriate approaches for different types of construction projects and materials. The decree also requires that the new framework be harmonized with regional and international benchmarks, to make it easier for foreign firms to enter the Congolese market and for local companies to compete in regional projects.

The initiative follows a January appeal by Jean Kakwende, executive secretary of the BTP Club and the Chamber of Trades and Artisans, who criticized the lack of a regulatory framework in the DRC’s construction sector. He warned that this gap undermines public safety and infrastructure quality, saying, “Without standards, there can be no sustainable development.”

The reform aligns with President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi’s focus on construction, infrastructure, and housing as key drivers of economic transformation.

While the construction sector creates at least 500,000 jobs a year, it suffers from widespread non-compliance, leading to repeated building collapses and loss of life. Recent incidents include the collapse of a building under construction in Bunia, which caused several casualties, and the deaths of five workers in Kinshasa’s Matete commune when a concrete block collapsed during drainage work.

These accidents highlight the consequences of failing to follow technical standards in public works projects. The rapid degradation of public infrastructure, particularly roads, often occurring just months after completion, has become a well-known issue.

The introduction of mandatory standards aims to cut rehabilitation costs, improve worksite safety, and extend the lifespan of public investments.

Timothée Manoke

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has launched an international call for partners to build a domestic train assembly and manufacturing plant.

The document, signed on Oct. 17, 2025, by Transport Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba, seeks private partners to set up assembly units capable of producing dozens of locomotives and wagons each year. The project also calls for training and technology transfer to local engineers and technicians.

Planned as a 25- to 30-year public-private partnership (PPP), the initiative includes maintenance facilities, spare parts production, and vocational training.

Two sites are under consideration: Matadi, the country’s main Atlantic port, and Kalemie, a key railway junction in Tanganyika province.

The project marks a step toward developing a local railway industry in a country that relies heavily on imported rolling stock. While the government supports the plan, it faces major structural and financial hurdles.

Macroeconomic risks such as exchange-rate volatility, payment delays, and regulatory uncertainty could deter investors. Continued dependence on imported components also exposes the project to high logistical and financial risks.

Expected productivity gains could be constrained by a shortage of skilled labor, the absence of local subcontractors and integrated logistics, and persistent bottlenecks in energy, transport, and digital infrastructure.

By comparison, South Africa and Egypt built their railway industries only after decades of investment in technical training and industrial subcontracting.

According to the call document, the DRC has over 5,000 kilometers of railway lines, much of which is underused or non-operational, limiting the market’s current potential. The government, however, has begun rehabilitating national and regional rail corridors, including the Lobito Corridor linking Angola, Zambia, and the DRC, and the Tanganyika Corridor to Tanzania.

In September 2025, the government relaunched the 366-kilometer Kinshasa-Matadi line, reconnecting the capital with its main seaport and adding new rolling stock. The line is expected to be extended to the Banana deep-water port, now under construction, to strengthen both domestic and international trade.

If these projects succeed, they could ease mobility constraints in a country where roads and river transport remain overburdened by degraded infrastructure, congestion, outdated vessels, unmarked waterways, and frequent accidents that all continue to raise logistics costs and weaken economic competitiveness.

Pierre Mukoko

Chinese miner CMOC Group Ltd produced 87,974 tons of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) between January and September 2025, up 3% from the same period a year earlier, the company said in an operational report on Oct. 24.

The combined output from its Kisanfu and Tenke Fungurume mines keeps the company on track to meet its 2025 target of between 100,000 and 120,000 tons, compared with 114,200 tons in 2024.

Most of this year’s production, however, cannot be exported. The DRC , the world’s largest cobalt producer , imposed an export embargo on Feb. 21, 2025, later replaced on Oct. 16 by a quota system that limits CMOC to shipping 6,500 tons in the final quarter of the year.

For 2026, the company will be allowed to export 31,200 tons, based on December 2025’s authorized volume being maintained each month, unless regulations are breached. Over the two-year period, CMOC’s cumulative exports will be capped at 37,700 tons, less than half its output for the first nine months of 2025. Executives have described the situation as “barely tolerable.”

The quota regime is expected to remain in place until at least 2027. A total of 18,125 tons was approved for 2025, and the combined authorized export volume is projected to reach 96,600 tons for 2026 and 2027. The strategic minerals regulator ARECOMS may adjust these quotas depending on market conditions.

Kinshasa hopes the new rules will lift cobalt prices and encourage miners to invest in local refining and value-added production. Unofficial reports suggest the government is targeting a floor price of $60,000 per tonne, about triple the level recorded in February 2025, when the embargo took effect.

Cobalt currently trades at around $45,000 per tonne on the London Metal Exchange. Prices are expected to rise as the DRC, which accounted for nearly 75% of global supply in 2024, curbs exports. Global demand is forecast to increase by 4% in 2025 and 6% in 2026, according to the Cobalt Institute.

Pierre Mukoko