DRC: Studies planned for the modernisation of the port of Bandundu-ville

Kinshasa, March 29th, 2026 (CPA).- Studies have been planned for the modernisation of the port operated by a public transport company in Bandundu-City, in the south-west of DRC. Congo on Saturday during a visit of this port infrastructure by President Felix Tshisekedi, who was accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister in charge of Transport on the side-lines of the 13th Governors’ Conference, according to an official source. “The President of the Republic, Felix Tshisekedi, has carried out an inspection visit on Saturday to the port of Onatra (National Transport Office) in Bandundu City, in the south-west of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), on the side-lines of the 13th conference of provincial governors organised in the provincial capital of Kwilu from March 24th to 28th,” it is read in the statement of the Ministry in charge of Transport. “Studies are envisaged with a view of rehabilitating the Onatra port in Bandundu City, an infrastructure essential to the development of river transport, to regional economic revival and to the improvement of trade,” the statement has added. According to this statement, this inspection visit forms part of the Head of State’s desire to ascertain the condition of the country’s strategic port infrastructure and to assess the priority actions to be undertaken for their modernisation. To this end, in his closing speech at the 13th Governors’ Conference delivered on Friday in Bandundu, in Kwilu, President Felix Tshisekedi had instructed the government to diligently undertake a series of priority actions aiming to boost the country’s development, notably through the rehabilitation of road and port infrastructure. “I instruct the government to take the necessary steps without delay to rehabilitate National Road No. 17, particularly the Mongata–Bandundu section, as well as to improve agricultural access roads and upgrade the port of Bandundu with its essential facilities,” has said the Head of State. The communication routes, It is emphasised, constitute one of the essential pillars of DRC’s development, and of reducing youth unemployment and poverty. ACP/