### Development of southern DRC corridors: between challenges and opportunities
The development of infrastructure in the southern corridors of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), notably those of Lobito and Banana, recently aroused an increasing interest at the Salon of Development of Cities and Corridors, Concrete Expo, held in Lubumbashi. While the participation of a hundred players in the public and private sectors underlines a desire for a positive future, it remains essential to question the viability of these projects in the face of the vast extent of poorly maintained roads and the mobilization of the financial resources necessary for their realization.
#### A worrying inventory
The DRC has a 156,000 km road network. However, only about 4,000 km are paid. This situation leads, as Donat Tshimboj, an active carrier on the Lobito corridor underlines, with endless and painful journeys. A 440 km course between Kolwezi and the Angola border can take between 15 days to a month, thus exposing logistics to heavy losses, but also people, to their distress.
This degradation of infrastructure raises questions about the country’s ability to integrate these corridors into international trade effectively. The damage suffered by trucks often torn from this route differ the risks involved by drivers and economic losses for carriers.
### The Funding challenge
At the heart of this problem is the National Road Maintenance Fund (FONER), the crucial mission of which is to ensure the repairs and maintenance of these strategic axes. Unfortunately, the iron suffers from an alarming deficit. necessary for road maintenance amounts to around $ 950 million a year, when it has only managed to mobilize 156 million due to significant fraud at the different levels of the oil product supply chain.
Pierre Bundoki, director general of Foner, explains that the double fraud observed both for importation and at the exit of warehouses hinders any hope of regenerating financial resources. These lack of funds aggravate an already very precarious situation for the road network, and therefore for the Congolese economy.
#### Look at Tanzania’s experience
To remedy this situation, votes have been raised to consider innovative approaches. The example of the Tanzanian model of local mobilization, cited by MWENZE patient from the CRDB, is particularly relevant. By concocting the Samia Bonds, Tanzania has enabled the population to invest in its infrastructure, raising $ 125 million in three months. Could such an initiative also be transposed in the DRC?
This highlights a potential track for the DRC: the involvement of citizens in infrastructure financing. By rendering the actors of these projects, not only could we increase the available resources, but it would also be a means of establishing a feeling of belonging and collective responsibility towards the state of infrastructure.
### towards reinforced collaboration
For these corridors to be development tools, close collaboration between the public and private sector is essential. Jean Bamanisa, director of Concrete Expo, stressed the importance of public-private partnerships as an essential lever to attract investments. By integrating private players into the financing and management of infrastructure, one could not only alleviate the financial pressure on the State, but also operate expertise often absent in the public sector.
#### Conclusion
The challenge of the development of the road network at the southern corridors of the DRC is large and complex. However, with a strong political will, a commitment from private actors and innovative financing mechanisms, it is possible to envisage a gradual improvement in these infrastructures. This will require time, concerted efforts and strengthened transparency in the management of financial resources, fundamental elements to restore confidence and guarantee the success of these projects. There are many challenges, but transformation opportunities exist, if all stakeholders sincerely commit themselves to common well-being.