Kinshasa, December 22nd, 2025 (CPA).- 160 factories and 30,000 initial jobs are expected in the first phase of the ‘Kinshasa-Kiamona’ project dedicated to the expansion of the city of Kinshasa, the country’s capital, announced the Minister of Urban Planning on Monday at the launch of the project in the east of the city-province. « This project will also be a real driver of job creation and an accelerator for the development of Congolese talent. For example, in the industrial city alone, as was mentioned earlier, 1,200 factories will be created in five years and the rest will be optimized within six years. Thus, 225,000 direct jobs are expected, and 30,000 will already be created over the next year, with 160 factories coming into being, » said Alexis Gisaro. Ultimately, he argued, ‘this project will have an impact on the cost of consumer goods, strengthen household purchasing power and build a genuine national industrial base.’ ‘Thanks to its strategic position, Maluku is set to become both a national production hub and a regional export hub, marking a historic shift in our economy towards production and export,’ he added.
The project also provides for the implementation of vocational training programs designed to equip the population, particularly young people, with skills suited to the jobs of the future and the economy. The aim of this initiative is to train qualified talent capable of actively contributing to the country’s development.
Another fruit of the Sino-Congolese partnership
Speaking in turn, the representative of the Chinese side welcomed the launch of this project, which is another fruit of Sino-Congolese cooperation for the economic development of the DRC. ‘This Sino-Congolese industrial city project has been developed jointly by Chinese and Congolese companies and the relevant ministries,’ he said. ‘And it carries the glory of a key national project for the Democratic Republic of Congo for 2025 at the heart of the African continent. This 7,500-hectare space is much more than just a physical space,’ he emphasized.
According to the Presidency of the DRC, the Sino-Congolese Industrial City and the ‘Nurse Maman Marthe Kasalu’ hospital platform mark the realization of the President of the Republic’s commitment to diversify the Congolese economy by making it more competitive. The Sino-Congolese industrial zone project is led by China East Africa Trade Development Co. Ltd and represents an investment of approximately USD 12 billion for the establishment of 1,200 factories over five years, with 20 factories per industrial park.
The ‘Nurse Maman Marthe Kasalu’ hospital platform is a large, state-of-the-art multidisciplinary hospital complex with a sub-regional oncology reference centre, which will be built on an area of 36,000 m² and 10 hectares with a heliport. It will be built by the Belgian-Moroccan consortium IIDG/TGCC and financed by a loan from the French public investment bank (BPI France) and the German bank CommerzBank for €133 million. After the speeches, the President of the Republic laid the foundation stone in the presence of several members of the government, including Prime Minister Judith Suminwa and other political and administrative figures. ACP/