The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has received its first shipment of Chinese-made construction equipment under a major road partnership with South African group Guma.

Infrastructure and Public Works Minister John Banza Lunda oversaw the arrival of 200 units of civil engineering machinery from China on November 14, according to an official statement. The shipment included dump trucks, bulldozers and various utility vehicles.

The equipment is the first batch of a 5,600-unit order tied to a partnership announced by the Prime Minister’s Office in February 2024 at the Mining Indaba forum in South Africa. At the time, the government said it had reached an agreement with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and Guma Africa to support an extensive road development program.

The contract covers a planned network of 180,000 kilometers of roads, valued at 450 million dollars. The financing is intended to support equipment purchases, road rehabilitation and maintenance by the Ministry of Infrastructure, and training for operators and technicians within the Roadways and Drainage Authority (OVD) and the Road Office (OR).

Financing and Delays

Although the project was initially expected to roll out over three years, the Ministry of Infrastructure said the contract was not formally signed until August 29, 2025.

The financing structure remains unclear. The Ministry only specified that the project is being “financed without a sovereign guarantee.” The arrangement appears to follow a leasing model in which DBSA acts as the financier, Guma supplies the machinery and the Congolese state leases the equipment. The government would use the machines for road works and repay the cost through lease fees, with ownership passing to the state once the full amount is covered.

Technical details for the planned roads have not yet been released, but the announced budget indicates that the work will mainly involve dirt roads.

In February 2024, the Prime Minister’s Office described the program as a major boost to the Local Development Program for 145 Territories (PDL-145T). The second phase of the PDL-145T, launched in the third quarter of 2022, covers the rehabilitation of more than 38,000 kilometers of rural access roads and related infrastructure, at a cost of 1.25 billion dollars. How the two road programs will be coordinated is still unclear.

During his visit to the DRC on August 29, Guma Group CEO Robert Gumede said the project “will transform the lives of Congolese people by reducing transport costs and stimulating agriculture and industry.” He added that the main objective is to improve links between urban and rural areas to support mobility and strengthen regional integration.

Pierre Mukoko & Timothée Manoke