Democratic Republic of the Congo

The political, economic and social development of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has significant impact across the whole of Central Africa. Conflicts in the eastern part of the country are a threat to the nation’s stability and have caused people to flee their homes, while its rainforests and natural resources mean that the country has a key role to play in protecting global goods like the climate, biodiversity and water. The DR Congo is one of the BMZ’s nexus and peace partners. Germany is therefore engaged in efforts to improve people’s living conditions, to foster stability and peace in Eastern Congo, to improve raw materials governance, and to foster the protection, sustainable use and restoration of tropical forest areas.

Haberdashery store in Kinshasa — Straight to

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) experienced exploitation under colonial rule; this period was followed by a dictatorship, and by years of war and conflict, instability and displacement. The result has been a number of protracted humanitarian crises.

One of the biggest challenges currently facing the DR Congo is the ongoing conflict situation in Eastern Congo. This situation has escalated dramatically since January 2025. Right now, parts of the eastern provinces of North and South Kivu (including the provincial capitals Goma and Bukavu) are occupied by the AFC/M23 Rebels, which have set up their own parallel administration. Once again, hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced. According to official UN reports, Rwandan military forces are supporting the M23. This is putting a severe strain on political relations between the DR Congo and Rwanda.

Various peace efforts involving the US, Qatar and also the African Union are currently underway. Germany and the EU are supporting these efforts. For example, at the end of June, the DR Congo and Rwanda signed a peace agreement in Washington that the US had helped to mediate. Under the agreement, both sides have agreed to a ceasefire, and have committed to mutually respect each other’s territorial integrity and refrain from giving any kind of support to armed groups.

However, the agreement has yet to be implemented. The situation remains extremely tense and fragile for the people living in the area.

The government headed by President Felix Tshisekedi, which was elected in 2023, has pledged that, by 2050, it will fully realise the potential of the commodities and agricultural industries, build a diversified economy, overcome poverty and create peace throughout the entire country. Moreover, the DR Congo is a member state of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), actively engaging in efforts to foster transparency in the commodity sector and create peace in the region, and in the efforts of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL) to promote economic and energy-policy integration.

According to United Nations calculations, 21 million DR Congo inhabitants – out of a total of 105 million – are dependent on humanitarian aid (as at January 2025). The number of internally displaced persons also increased significantly in recent years: most of the IDPs live in the eastern provinces. According to United Nations reports, there are more than seven million internally displaced people within the DR Congo. More than a million Congolese have fled to neighbouring countries, more than half of them to Uganda (as at July 2025). The continuing escalation of the conflict in Eastern Congo has further aggravated the situation.

At the same time, the DR Congo is itself host to more than 520,000 refugees from other countries, such as the Central African Republic, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi.

On the newest United Nations Human Development Index (HDI), the DR Congo is ranked 171st out of the 193 countries listed. Currently, a quarter of the entire population of the DR Congo is threatened by acute food insecurity, with about 28 million people affected across the country.

German development cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a nexus and peace partner for the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The focus of this cooperation is on making tangible improvements in the lives of poor and marginalised population groups, fostering peace and stability in Eastern Congo, improving resource governance and protecting the country’s tropical forests, taking particular account of the needs of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

At government negotiations in February 2023, the BMZ made a pledge of 90 million euros to its partner country for 2023 and 2024. This comprises 45 million euros each for Financial Cooperation and for Technical Cooperation. The BMZ is making an additional four million euros available to the country through its Special Initiative on Displaced Persons and Host Countries. The DR Congo receives further funding within the framework of transitional development assistance. The transitional development assistance portfolio was worth about 91 million euros in December 2025, with the funding being used to facilitate further support for the people living in the eastern part of the country.

The main focus of German activities is on the following core areas:

Peaceful and inclusive societies
Area of intervention: Peacebuilding and conflict prevention
Area of intervention: Good governance, focusing on the mineral resource sector
Conserving nature and natural resources, protecting life on Earth
Areas of intervention: Biodiversity, forest conservation and water
Climate and energy, just transition
Area of intervention: Renewable energy and energy efficiency

Transboundary bodies in the region supported by Germany include the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR), the Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL), the Central Africa Forests Commission (COMIFAC), the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) and the Forest and Climate Leaders’ Partnership (FCLP).

Moving on from coloniality

Many of the current challenges facing the DR Congo have their roots in the colonial era. The BMZ engages critically with these continuities in order to identify any areas where this legacy persists and adjust its development approaches as necessary. Its goal is a partnership on an equal footing between actors from the Global South and the Global North. The BMZ is committed, for example, to making sure that the DR Congo’s rich natural resources (critical raw materials, etc.) benefit the local people and that the international competition for raw materials does not play out to the detriment of people and nature.

Presenter at Radio Okapi, operated by the UN

The DR Congo is characterised by recurring conflicts, weak state structures and huge social disparities – especially in the provinces of North Kivu, South Kivu and Ituri, where the government is barely able to deliver protection, security and basic services. Germany is therefore supporting projects aimed at promoting peace and strengthening people’s resilience, strengthening transparency in the commodity sector and improving popular participation, especially for women, displaced persons and marginalised groups.

After the Amazon, the next-biggest contiguous area of tropical forest in the world is the Congo Basin. Besides the biggest peat bogs on the planet, this region also has a huge range of different species, making it a biodiversity hotspot and a source of livelihood for numerous Indigenous Peoples and local communities. At the same time, as a carbon sink, the tropical rainforest plays a crucial role for the global climate. Germany is supporting the Democratic Republic of the Congo in protecting these ecosystems and driving forward the sustainable use of natural resources. Furthermore, measures to improve drinking water supply in selected provinces are being supported.

Inga dam with run-of-river power plants in the Democratic Republic of Congo

The DR Congo has enormous resources that can be tapped for renewable energy. Nevertheless, large parts of the population are still largely cut off from the electricity supply. At the same time, the pressure on national forests is growing, since traditional fuels like charcoal are used to meet daily energy needs. Linking sustainable energy generation with the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of biodiverse ecosystems is therefore at the heart of current German development cooperation with the DR Congo.