Carousel Finance, with offices in London and Geneva, is gearing up to launch an investment fund dedicated to the “Kia Kinshasa Mona” (“Kinshasa revealed”) project, which aims to expand the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mandated by the project’s Strategic Oversight Committee (CSSPVK), Carousel is tasked with structuring the financing and mobilizing investors.
On April 18 and 20, 2025, Carousel Finance presented the fund to investors at DRC embassies in France and Belgium. “This fund is designed to finance the main components of the project by securing contracts and remuneration for technical operators and investors in several sectors,” explains Carousel Finance management. According to the same source, the fund will “provide clear risk allocation, efficient operational coordination and a sustainable capital commitment, aligned with the progressive development of the project.” All are “framed by international standards.”
Upcoming Economic Forum
The CSSPVK website, launched in January 2024, puts the total cost of the “Kia Kinshasa Mona” project at $50 billion, though it’s unclear if this matches the fund’s actual fundraising target, as no size has been specified yet.
Carousel Finance is clearly courting major players. In France, the investor meetings drew representatives from Africa Global Logistics, CMA CGM, KPMG, Accor, Nexans, Citi, Sunna Design, Dassault Systèmes, Eiffage, and King & Spalding. In Belgium, the lineup included the Port of Antwerp, IIDG, Besix, Deme, Siemens Belgium, Rawbank, as well as public agencies like Awex and Bio Invest
These sessions are paving the way for a major economic forum in London, date still to be announced. The goal: to “structure concrete commitments around the project,” says Marius Esposito, head of strategic partnerships at Carousel Finance. On April 29, 2025, Carousel’s chairman, Jafar Hilali, met with the DRC’s ambassador to the UK, Ndolamb Ngokwey, to discuss the event.
Planned Works
According to the CSSPVK, seven sub-projects have already been finalized and are scheduled to kick off by June 2025. These include the construction of an administrative and business city, as well as an industrial center entrusted to China State Construction Engineering, a firm chosen for its global expertise and track record in large-scale urban projects. An agreement for these works was signed at the Africa-China Forum in September 2024, and both contracts have been reviewed by the partnership regulatory agency. The total estimated cost for these infrastructures stands at $8 billion, according to Belgian newspaper L’Echo.
Another major project underway is a hospital complex, awarded to a consortium of Antwerp-based International Infrastructure Development Group (IIDG) and Morocco’s Travaux Généraux de Construction de Casablanca (TGCC), with support from Bpifrance, and budgeted at $300 million.
Last March, two additional protocols were signed with Congolese companies: one with Entreprise Kipelo Maschind Multiservices (EKMM) for a 5-megawatt solar power plant and related infrastructure, and another with MJ Center to develop a river transport system connecting Kinshasa to the future city.
Thousands of new jobs
The "Kia Kinshasa Mona" project is a massive $50 billion initiative to create a modern extension of Kinshasa, spanning 43,000 hectares, or about 4.7% of the capital, according to a JICA 2019 study. The project’s developers claim the new city will accommodate up to 5 million people-significant, but still only a fraction of Kinshasa’s estimated 20 million residents, a population growing at 3% per year. They also said thousands of jobs will be created under the initiative.
For now, it is unclear if the project will be integrated into Kinshasa’s Transport Master Plan (PDTK)-critical for connecting the old and new cities.
This article was initially published in French by Georges Auréole Bamba
Edited in English by Ola Schad Akinocho
