Sérgio Pimenta, the vice-president for Africa of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), is on an official visit to the DRC. Since 2021, IFC has invested more than $500 million in the DRC, and its team in Kinshasa is now reinforced by numerous experts. For President Tshisekedi, the priority must currently be the fight against the monster traffic jams that Kinshasa is experiencing.
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With our correspondent in Kinshasa, Patient Ligodi
In Kinshasa, the problem of road congestion has become a central subject and the president Felix Tshisekedi now considers it a top priority for the capital, he says. Thus, during his meeting with Sérgio Pimenta, the vice-president of the IFC – an institution of the World Bank which helps governments to structure public-private partnerships – he insisted on the urgency of relieving congestion in Kinshasa, where traffic jams are paralyzing the city.
The president wants rapid and effective solutions, notably through public-private partnerships, as Sérgio Pimenta confirmed: “ In the coming weeks, we will, with a team, put in place a kind of concept, an idea that we will share with the authorities. Afterwards, we will have to see if this solution is of interest and corresponds to the needs of the country. “.
If this concept is approved, an implementation procedure could be launched in the following months, with shortened deadlines. Sergio Pimenta cites the example of Dakar, where a similar project took less than two years from conception to disbursement of funds.
He also addressed the importance of a favorable business environment to support these projects in the DRC. “ More clarity in taxation systems, permit systems, business opening or closing systems. This is all important. We are ready to support the government in the reforms it wishes to implement “, he said.
On Thursday, Félix Tshisekedi visited certain hotspots in Kinshasa to see with his own eyes the extent of the traffic jams which are paralyzing the capital.