• Congo launches $76 million Pointe-Noire-Cabinda road upgrade

• China firm to expand 15.4-km stretch to dual carriageway

• Project aims to boost Angola trade, ease oil traffic

Congo’s President Denis Sassou Nguesso on Monday, February 9, 2025, launched work on the reconstruction of a section of the Pointe-Noire-Cabinda road, a project aimed at easing traffic and boosting domestic and cross-border trade with Angola.

The project involves upgrading a 15.4-km stretch connecting Djeno oil terminal to Angola’s Agostinho-Neto International Airport into a dual carriageway. The road will be widened to 14 meters from 7 meters. The 42 billion CFA franc ($76.2 million) project is financed through a strategic partnership with oil companies operating at the Djeno platform. China State Construction Engineering Corporation will carry out the works.

Commissioned in the early 2000s, the road now handles heavy traffic due to population growth and increased truck flows serving Djeno, causing congestion and straining oil-sector logistics. The upgraded infrastructure is expected to accommodate up to 15,000 vehicles per day.

The reconstruction forms part of broader regional integration efforts aimed at strengthening cross-border trade, seen as a key driver of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Henoc Dossa