The European Union has announced €180 million in new investments to support the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through its Global Gateway strategy, deepening economic cooperation and bolstering regional peace, integration, and sustainability.
The announcement was made during the 2025 Global Gateway Forum in Brussels, where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.
Their discussions reaffirmed the EU’s recognition of the DRC as a key partner in Africa’s green and digital transitions and a central actor in advancing global sustainability.
“The DRC holds enormous potential for Africa’s green industrialisation,” von der Leyen said after the meeting. “Our cooperation aims to unlock that potential—creating jobs, protecting biodiversity, and ensuring that natural resources become engines for sustainable development.”
Under this new partnership package, the EU and its Team Europe partners will channel funds into energy, transport, biodiversity, and critical raw materials—all aligned with the DRC’s national development and regional integration goals.
A total of €60.5 million will fund the Kivu–Kinshasa Green Corridor. This initiative combines nature conservation, infrastructure development, and green-economy growth in one of the DRC’s most ecologically sensitive and economically vital regions.
Another €16 million will support the Lobito Corridor, strengthening agricultural value chains and boosting transboundary trade between the DRC, Angola, and Zambia.
A €20 million grant will help electrify the city of Kisangani, unlocking an additional €70 million in concessional loans from the French Development Agency (AFD) to improve urban energy access.
A further €13.8 million will advance sustainable mining and critical-raw-materials governance, including €2 million for the Cobalt4Development programme and €11.8 million to strengthen the Ministry of Mines and promote traceable, ethical value chains.
Collectively, these initiatives reflect the EU’s long-term vision to align economic growth with peacebuilding and environmental stewardship in the DRC and Central Africa.
The investments are designed to improve living conditions, create local jobs, and reduce the country’s dependence on raw resource exports by fostering value addition and industrial diversification.
President Tshisekedi welcomed the EU’s support, saying the partnership “marks a new era for the DRC — one where development and peace go hand in hand, and where our natural wealth becomes a source of dignity and opportunity for all Congolese.”
The EU–DRC cooperation falls under Global Gateway, the EU’s global investment framework that aims to mobilise up to €300 billion worldwide by 2027 for clean, digital, and resilient infrastructure.
Through this initiative, Europe seeks to foster equal, transparent partnerships with African countries, prioritising sustainability over dependency.
The DRC projects are among the most comprehensive Global Gateway investments in Central Africa to date, connecting local economic transformation with global climate goals and regional stability.
As von der Leyen summed it up: “The future we are building with the DRC is one of partnership, resilience, and shared prosperity — a future powered by clean energy, sustainable trade, and peace.”
