The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) needs $132 billion to bridge its housing deficit, according to the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This is eight times the country’s DRC. Malick Fall, the IFC representative in DRC disclosed the figure during a workshop aimed at improving the housing business climate in the country. 

The DRC requires 4 million new housing units, with 250,000 needed each year, including 140,000 in Kinshasa, which accounts for 50% of the deficit. Meeting this demand would require about $8.2 billion annually. In Kinshasa's upscale neighborhoods, rents can reach $2,000 a month, far exceeding the average Congolese income.

"To respond to this challenge, we developed a project to improve the business climate environment in the sector on both the supply and demand sides," said Malick Fall. “This workshop, Fall added, “was to propose reforms and gain stakeholder commitment for implementation”.

The specific reforms are not yet known, but the housing sector faces challenges such as unclear property titles, a weak legal framework, and political instability in some areas. 

Also, access to property loans is low, with the Congolese mortgage market having a low loan-to-GDP ratio of just 7.5%, compared to the global average of 147.6%. Additionally, the Central Bank of Congo recently raised its key interest rate to 25%, which could further increase borrowing costs.

Moutiou Adjibi Nourou