WASHINGTON, March 30, 2021 - The World Bank approved financing in the amount of $500 million for the Kinshasa Multisector Development and Urban Resilience Project, known as Kin Elenda, which means Sustainable and Resilient Kinshasa. The financing, provided by the International Development Association* (IDA), will strengthen institutional capacity for urban management and improve access to infrastructure and services and socio-economic opportunities in Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“Kin Elenda will help address issues related to a lack of access to basic services in urban neighborhoods, socio-economic exclusion, and exposure to climate-related shocks, which already affect Kinshasa and pose risks to sustainable urban development,” affirms Jean-Christophe Carret, World Bank Country Director for the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Angola and São Tomé and Príncipe.
Kin Elenda will benefit the most vulnerable urban populations in Kinshasa by improving the provision of water and increasing the resilience of the electricity network, including the use of renewable energy in Kinshasa. More than two million people, 51 percent of whom are women, will benefit directly from improved services, such as household water connections, reduced exposure to flooding, and green urban spaces in the neighborhoods of Kisenso, Ndjili, Matete and Lemba. Gender inequality will be addressed in all project components through activities aimed to enhance women’s socioeconomic conditions and reduce gender-based violence.
The project will also support improved urban planning and revenue generation, which, in turn, will contribute to improved services and governance. Moreover, through investments in infrastructure maintenance and social inclusion activities and expanding access to skills training, the project aims to improve the financial resources of vulnerable individuals while boosting growth and productivity in priority sectors.
“Given the enormous challenges faced by the city, the project will lay the ground for longer-term engagement of the World Bank in Kinshasa through a series of projects that aims to improve the living conditions for the majority of the 9 million poor in the city”, says Meskerem Brhane, World Bank Practice Manager for Urban, Resilience and Land Practice in East and Southern Africa.
To help meet the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kin Elenda seeks to protect the poor and vulnerable and preserve their livelihoods by drawing on lessons for building back better through inclusive recovery and increasing resilience to climate change.
The Kin Elenda financing includes a credit and a grant each in the amount of $250 million.
* The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $21 billion over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa.
