(Ecofin Agency) - • Jean Bamanisa says Kinshasa needs 3,500 km of roads rebuilt at a cost of over $10 billion.
• He warns that without urgent investment, the city could slide into dysfunction and decay.
• Bamanisa proposes mining-backed funding and urban studies to guide long-term development.

Congolese politician and entrepreneur Jean Bamanisa Saïdi has issued a stark warning over the deteriorating state of Kinshasa’s infrastructure, arguing that without large-scale reconstruction, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) could begin to resemble long-lost medieval cities.

Speaking in an interview with B-One Television ahead of the 9th edition of Expobéton, held from April 16 to 19 in Lubumbashi, Bamanisa stressed that Kinshasa urgently needs to rebuild approximately 3,500 kilometers of roads. He compared the scale of transformation required to the urban redesign of Paris under Napoleon III and Haussmann in the 19th century.

Bamanisa warned that without this intervention, chronic issues such as extreme traffic congestion, flooding, unsanitary conditions, and urban disorder could continue to worsen. Today, rainfall regularly results in fatal floods, and traffic jams lasting up to five hours have become routine in several areas. He attributes these problems to neglected diversion roads, chaotic use of public space, and a rise in social incivility.

A former governor of Ituri (2013–2015 and 2019–2022), Bamanisa estimates that a 20–30 year plan and a minimum of $10 billion would be required to restore Kinshasa’s infrastructure. He proposed innovative financing strategies, including infrastructure-for-resources agreements akin to the Sicomines model, which trades mineral concessions for infrastructure investment.

At the 2025 Mining Indaba, Bamanisa advocated linking urban and mining development, pointing to historical examples such as Kolwezi and Likasi. He emphasized the importance of genuine urban planning studies, citing the ongoing threat of uncontrolled settlement around Kinshasa’s proposed bypass project, intended to connect industrial and residential zones.

As head of PPC Barnet RDC, a major cement producer, Bamanisa also encouraged the use of durable and locally appropriate construction materials, including concrete, limestone, sand, mining waste, volcanic rock, and lime. He called for modern, context-specific construction techniques that can support long-term urban resilience in the DRC.