Staff with China railway seventh group CO. discusses with workmate on how to construct on the bridge floor at a construction site of an international port in Matadi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), April 30, 2016. (Xinhua/Wang Bo)
The different road-construction and rehabilitation works launched in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) by President Joseph Kabila in collaboration with Chinese companies, have greatly contributed to improvement of the economic situation in the country.
According to Gorbi Mirindi, a congolese economic expert, DR Congo has suffered due to lack of road infrastructure for many years since its decolonization.
"The launch of the road construction program by Kabila with Sino-Congolese cooperation, has helped to boost other sectors in the country, especially within Kinshasa town," Mirindi said.
The expert noted that the housing sector had equally grown in different parts of the country, especially in Kinshasa.
"The congolese population strongly appreciates the enormous road infrastructure work that has been undertaken by Chinese companies in this country because the work has had a direct and positive impact on their daily lives," Mirindi said.
As for Nkere Ntanda, a professor at Kinshasa University and an expert on investment matters, "the Congolese people had never seen such levels of construction works in their country since independence in 1960."
He noted that the reconstruction work is highly appreciated by the population, because it has helped to resolve problems that date back to decades.
According to him, the improvement of the road infrastructures by Chinese companies in DR Congo had generally led to the emergence of small and medium size companies in various parts of the country, something that has directly improved the people's wellbeing.
Ntanda equally urged the population to change their behaviour and maintain the new roads that have been constructed.
"There should be a behavioural change for our population and leaders to ensure we are able to maintain the infrastructures we have benefited with through Sino-Congolese cooperation program," Ntanda said.
