Kinshasa, July 15th, 2025 (CPA). –An investment of 130 million euros by the French Development Agency (AFD) has been allocated to the education and employability sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the partnership between France and DRC, according to an AFD document received on Tuesday by CPA. ‘130 million euros have been allocated by the French Development Agency (AFD) to DRC to implement 12 projects in the education and employability sector. AFD and Expertise France’s action in the education and vocational training sector falls within the framework of the partnership between France and DRC as well as the sectoral strategy for education and training,’ it is read.
According to the source, AFD operates in DRC across the entire education sector, supporting young Congolese people’s access to quality education, from school to university, and to appropriate vocational training to promote their employability in this investment programme launched from 2019 to date. Teacher training, gender equality and digital development are strong features of these projects. “AFD is contributing to the school construction program in support of the free education reform with 1 240 new classrooms built in the provinces of Kinshasa, Bandundu and Bas-Congo, including separate sanitation facilities for girls.
Actions are also underway in Nord-Kivu and Ituri to ensure the continuity of education in vulnerable areas », has indicated the source. AFD is supporting the government in its policy to improve the status of teachers through better management of end-of-career and salary payments under the ‘APEP 2’ project, which will enable 28 520 teachers to be paid regularly, and a reform of initial training. Four training institutes for teaching professions will be created under the “EFFICACES” and ‘MOLAKISI TELEMA’ projects to train around 600 teachers a year, it has been learnt.
Enhancing the employability of young Congolese people
The same document also states that AFD’s projects to boost the employability of young Congolese through appropriate vocational training will improve the quality of the training on offer at national vocational training institutes (INPP) in line with the needs of the formal and informal economy. The aim of the programme is to develop and renovate training standards and create specialised courses that meet the specific needs of the regions.
Specific attention is paid to the gender dimension and vulnerable young people. ‘Incubators are also planned to promote entrepreneurship and the economic integration of young people, particularly through the RELIEFF project’, the document has stated. It was also pointed out that, in the agricultural and rural training sector, the support project for governance, integration and agricultural and rural training in the Tshopo region (GIFT) has helped to strengthen agricultural and rural training systems at technical and university levels, by incorporating an ambitious cross-cutting gender approach and sustainable agricultural practices.
In order to support the higher education system with the development of high-quality scientific courses, AFD’s projects aim to promote high-quality vocational education that is a lever for innovation, giving priority to courses in sectors that have a knock-on effect for the economy and mobilising partnerships with French higher education establishments. However, the Higher Education Support Project (Projet d’appui à l’enseignement supérieur – PAES), implemented by Expertise France, will support six research laboratories and four higher education and university establishments in the renovation of promising courses of study, targeting five priority provinces: Kinshasa, Tshopo, Sud -Kivu, Lualaba and Haut -Katanga.