The African Development Bank Group has approved a $159.5 million loan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to modernize transport links around the Ngandajika Agro-Industrial Park, is an investment expected to reshape economic life across the country’s central region.
With a total project cost of $177.16 million, co-financed with the Congolese government, the initiative aims to strengthen the park’s integration into key national and regional trade routes. Beyond transport upgrades, the project is being hailed as a catalyst for human development, political stability and broader social transformation. Opening pathways for farmers and communities.
At the heart of the initiative is a simple idea: better roads mean better lives. Improved access to the Nkuadi-Ngandajika-PAIN and Lukalaba-Ngandajika corridors, along with links to RN1 and RN2, will drastically cut travel time for farmers, traders and agro-processors who currently struggle with high transport costs and poor road conditions.
Extending the runway at Mbuji-Mayi airport will also allow faster, more efficient movement of high-value agricultural products. An unprecedented boost for local producers seeking to reach national and international markets.
To the communities in Lomami province and Kasaï Oriental, this translates into: lower food prices and safer travel, new markets for smallholder farmers, more secure livelihoods through improved access to buyers and suppliers and expanded opportunities for women and youth, who dominate local trade and food processing. It is a strategic political investment.
Apart from economic gains, the project carries strong political significance. By connecting remote agricultural zones to national corridors, the DRC positions itself to better implement its decentralization goals and strengthen the economic fabric of historically underserved regions.
“This project is more than a road” – said Léandre Bassolé, the African Development Bank’s Director General for Central Africa. “It reinforces sovereignty, deepens regional integration and builds the infrastructure backbone needed for long-term political and economic stability.”
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