DRC links security prospects to regional infrastructure projects

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is seeking to anchor regional security in shared economic prosperity by championing major cross-border infrastructure projects.

As current chair of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), Kinshasa is focusing on three strategic transboundary initiatives: the Lobito Corridor, the Tanzania–Burundi–DRC Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and the Uganda–DRC road network.

Political leaders, diplomats and technocrats meeting in Kinshasa last week said these projects could help transform a region long defined by conflict into one driven by economic interdependence and shared interests.

While opening the High-Level Segment of the summit, Congolese Prime Minister Judith Suminwa highlighted the Great Lakes Region’s “immense economic potential,” citing its vast mineral deposits, abundant water resources and a youthful, increasingly urban population.

According to the World Bank, the DRC’s economy expanded by 6.5 percent in 2024, powered largely by a 12.8 percent surge in the extractive sector—especially copper and cobalt production.

The country is one of the world’s leading holders of cobalt reserves, which are often mined alongside copper and increasingly vital to global clean-energy technologies.

From left: Togo’s Foreign Minister Robert Dussey, France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, DRC Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, Burundi’s Foreign Minister Édouard Bizimana, Qatar’s Minister of State Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi and U.S. State Department senior adviser Massad Fares attend a conference on peace and prosperity in the Great Lakes region, in Paris, France, October 30, 2025.

Photo credit: Reuters

PM Suminwa said the region must build “convergence and cooperation” around these resources if it hopes to market them competitively. The DRC, she noted, stands at the junction of five integration blocs—the ICGLR, ICCAs, SADC, Comesa and the East African Community—giving it both a strategic advantage and a responsibility to promote unity.

“This position gives us a historic responsibility, but also a unique opportunity: that of bringing people together rather than dividing them, of uniting our efforts rather than dispersing them,” she said.

Kinshasa argues that strengthening transport links will underpin both economic growth and security. The government sees regional infrastructure networks as essential to overcoming the DRC’s limited domestic transport capacity and opening up trade corridors.

At the centre of this ambition is the Lobito Corridor, a transnational rail-and-road system connecting the DRC and Zambia to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito. The corridor includes 550 kilometres of new rail from the Jimbe border to Chingola in Zambia’s Copperbelt, and 260 kilometres of feeder roads.

The project received a major boost last week when the European Union announced it had mobilised €2 billion ($2.3 billion) under its Global Gateway initiative to expand the corridor. EU Commissioner for International Partnerships Jozef Sikela, speaking in Lusaka, said the funding would accelerate construction and unlock new trade opportunities across the region.

Concerns that the United States might pull out of the project under President Donald Trump’s revived “America First” approach have not materialised.

Washington has reaffirmed its commitment, and the US International Development Finance Corporation—established during Trump’s first term—has pledged a $550 million loan for the corridor, which is seen in Washington as critical for diversifying global cobalt and copper supply chains away from China.

China’s influence in regional infrastructure remains substantial. It financed and built the iconic Tanzania–Zambia Railway (Tazara), completed in 1976, and continues to support railways, power plants and ports across East and Southern Africa.

In September 2024, China, Tanzania and Zambia signed a memorandum to revitalise Tazara, with plans to increase freight capacity to 2.4 million tonnes annually and cut shipping times by nearly two-thirds. The upgrade is expected to stimulate trade and job creation across the region.

PM Suminwa said the Lobito Corridor, together with the emerging Tanzania–Burundi–DRC SGR and the Uganda–DRC road network, forms “a unique model of logistical and economic integration.”

The SGR line will connect the DRC and Burundi to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, while the Uganda–DRC roads are designed to strengthen cross-border commerce and enhance security in historically volatile border regions.

“These projects are not just infrastructure,” the Prime Minister said. “They are the foundation of a connected, competitive and sovereign Africa. They are tangible proof that peace can also be built through the economy, trade, mobility and mutual trust.”

Angola’s Foreign Minister Tete Antonio echoed this view, saying the Lobito initiative “shifts the narrative from conflict to solution.” He expressed confidence that an integrated eastern-western transport spine could eventually link the Atlantic and Indian Oceans.

DRC officials stressed that economic interdependence can help reduce conflict. Regional Integration Minister Floribert Anzuluni said economic integration encourages states to resolve disputes peacefully because the costs of confrontation become too high.

Deputy Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Bemba, who also serves as Transport Minister, said the Lobito Corridor would catalyse additional investments, including a dry port and new industrial clusters in metals, steel and fuel.

Bemba added that the DRC is developing the Banana Port on the Atlantic coast to complete an Indian–Atlantic trade route. Feasibility studies are under way, and construction is targeted for completion by December 2027.

The government is inviting investors to build a railway linking Banana to Matadi, the country’s main seaport. The corridor is eventually expected to handle one million containers annually.

An infographic titled “A New Front in Global Competition in Africa: The Lobito Corridor” created in Ankara, Türkiye, on August 13, 2025.

Photo credit: Reuters

The World Bank, recognising the importance of Lobito, is working with Angola on PPP arrangements and plans to support the DRC to rehabilitate rail links to Dilolo on the Angolan border.

The Bank’s regional director, Albert Zeufack, described the project as “not just a rail but a transformation of the region’s narrative.” About $500 million is expected to be mobilised.

The Bank also intends to help establish the Lobito Corridor Academy to train local labour, addressing capacity challenges that have historically forced governments to import labour. It has guaranteed $2 billion to strengthen the corridor’s broader ecosystem.

The $2.15 billion Tanzania–Burundi–DRC SGR line, built by Chinese and Turkish contractors, is expected to play a central role in transporting minerals—including nickel—from inland mines to the port of Dar es Salaam.

Once complete, the 282km line is projected to move at least three million tonnes of minerals a year.

On the eastern flank, the Uganda–DRC road project is progressing despite security challenges. The 223km network, launched in 2021 by Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Félix Tshisekedi, is designed to open up trade routes and stabilise historically insecure border zones.

The roads cover the Nebbi–Goli–Mahagi–Bunia (190km), Bunia–Bogoro–Kasenyi (55km) and Rwebisengo–Budiba–Buguma–Nyiyapandam routes, as well as the Budiaba Bridge over the River Semuliki.

President Tshisekedi said the roads would stimulate trade between the two nations and strengthen cooperation across sectors. “I pray that we also build such relations in other areas such as security and agriculture,” he said.

The DRC’s Infrastructure Ministry says Uvira—located in South Kivu on Lake Tanganyika and bordering Burundi—will become a key hub, connecting the new road system to regional markets and improving mobility across the Great Lakes.

Despite optimism, officials acknowledge that insecurity remains a major obstacle. Theft, vandalism and attacks linked to armed groups have slowed progress, especially along the Uganda–DRC corridors. Uganda’s ambassador to the DRC, Farid Kaliisa, said construction teams have faced repeated disruptions.

Ugandan forces have been deployed in joint operations with DRC troops to contain the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist militant group operating in eastern Congo. Officials say stabilising the region is essential if infrastructure projects are to achieve their intended impact.

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