More than 10,000 people affected by flooding in eastern Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), were admitted Monday to sports facilities at the Tata Raphaël and Martyrs stadiums, following the disaster caused by torrential rains on Friday and Saturday.
These rains, which cut the city in two and cut off access to Ndjili International Airport, demonstrated the importance of the Sino-Congolese contract through the construction and improvement of infrastructure.
Thus, the construction of the southeast and southwest ring roads of the Congolese capital by Sino-Congolaise des Mines (SICOMINES S.A.) as part of the Sino-Congolese program, is proving even more crucial today to stop the flooding and preserve the lives of the population and protect their property. Especially considering that this project was part of "a vast program to build a ring road that will form a loop around Kinshasa, in order to streamline traffic flow to N'djili International Airport."
In its current configuration, Kinshasa's road network is largely made up of those developed between 2008 and 2022 under the Sino-Congolese contract. These include, among others, the major boulevards (30 juin, Triomphal, Sendwe, etc.) and the major avenues (Tourisme, Nzolana, etc.). In March 2025, Jules Alingete, Inspector General of Finance, Head of Department, expressed satisfaction with the progress of the work after visiting the capital's currently largest road construction site: the South-East and South-West ring roads under construction, accompanied by a delegation including officials from the ACGT (Congolese Agency for Major Works), COVEC, GREC 8, and SICOMINES S.A.
Following this visit by Inspector General Jules Alingete, the online media outlet Congo Guardian reported that "the city of Kinshasa is at a historic turning point in terms of tourism and infrastructure. The ring roads under construction are transforming its appearance and giving shape to a new configuration of the city, with promising prospects for its expansion, beyond the primary role of these road infrastructures, which is to improve traffic flow in the city." On April 1st, a working session followed with delegates from these partners to address the issue of compensation for expropriations of local residents.
On this occasion, Jules Alingete brought together representatives from ACGT, SISC, CREC 4, CREC 8, and SICOMINES in his offices to first assess the progress of the work and then ensure effective transparency in the management of costs to avoid any financial overruns.
He emphasized rigorous control of construction costs, believing it essential "to have a clear view of the costs incurred and to ensure that each expense is justified." The 63-km-long ring roads, including 41.54 km in the southeast and 21.38 km in the southwest, connect the municipalities of Mont Ngafula to Nsele via the municipalities of Ndjili and Kimbanseke. Work is progressing satisfactorily, and several stakeholders are encouraging this partnership to enable the DRC to develop its infrastructure.
The southeast section, for which construction work is being carried out by COVEC, includes Ndjoku Avenue, Buma Avenue (also known as Antoine Gizenga), the Ndjili Brasserie neighborhood, Peace Avenue, the Kimwenza Gare neighborhood, and Mitendi. In the southwest section, work is being carried out by CREC-8 on the Mitendi-Mbudi section. This is why it is referred to as the Mbudi-Ndjili International Airport route. For its part, SICOMINES S.A. stated its determination to continue construction of the Kinshasa ring roads, launched by President Félix Tshisekedi in June 2024, for which it is the primary source of financing, as agreed in the Sino-Congolese contract and reiterated in Amendment No. 5 concluded on March 14, 2024.
This mining company also continues to fulfill its share of responsibilities in fulfilling the commitments made to finance the infrastructure planned by the Congolese authorities.
congo-press.com / MCP, mediacongo.net, via IMCongo.com
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