The Democratic Republic of Congo has officially moved into the active phase of a $46.5 million regional programme aimed at transforming the long-neglected Ubangi River basin into a driver of economic growth, food security, and cross-border trade across Central Africa.
According to Business Insider Africa, The initiative, known by its French acronym PREDIRE, was launched in the DRC on 16 February 2026 with support from the African Development Bank Group.
The programme focuses on three provinces, Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, and Mongala, regions that have faced decades of poverty, limited infrastructure, and increasing climate-related challenges.
Stretching over 2,272 kilometres, the Ubangi River flows through the DRC, the Central African Republic, and the Republic of Congo, serving as the main right-bank tributary of the Congo River, which is the second-largest river basin in the world.
Despite its importance, the basin has remained largely underdeveloped. Over the past 30 years, changing rainfall patterns have reduced water levels and runoff in the Ubangi by up to 18%, affecting biodiversity, limiting river navigation, and slowing trade.
PREDIRE is designed to reverse this trend and is jointly funded by the African Development Fund, the concessional arm of the African Development Bank, the OPEC Fund, and the DRC government.
The programme adopts what planners describe as a water, food security, climate nexus approach, connecting water infrastructure development with agricultural support and climate adaptation efforts.
In practice, this includes building climate-resilient water systems to support the country’s agricultural transformation agenda, upgrading river monitoring and information systems, and improving navigation along the Ubangi to facilitate trade with the Central African Republic and the Republic of Congo.
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The initiative is expected to directly benefit 2.4 million people, with more than half being women. About 71% of beneficiaries are young people, and 69% are currently living in absolute poverty.
In addition to improving water access, the programme aims to create 3,400 jobs, including 1,200 permanent roles, while also offering entrepreneurship training and support for local livelihoods.
Working in partnership with the UNHCR, the programme will also include a resilience component focused on vulnerable populations.
This will directly support 25,000 people in fragile and displacement-affected communities and strengthen the capacity of over 1,300 institutional and community actors.
The DRC’s implementation of PREDIRE is being overseen by the Ministry of Rural Development and technically coordinated through the PRISE II project, which will introduce modern tools for water governance, data-driven planning, and cross-border coordination.
The DRC rollout follows the launch of the Central African Republic component in August 2025, positioning the Ubangi basin as one of the most ambitious cross-border development efforts currently underway in Central Africa.
PREDIRE is also part of a broader set of investments in the region. A separate $8.7 million initiative supported by the Global Environment Facility, with $67 million in co-financing, complements the programme by integrating environmental and ecosystem-based approaches across water, agriculture, and transport sectors.
Project coordinator Deo Nsunzu emphasized the importance of the initiative, stating: “The Support Programme for the Development of Cross-Border Water Infrastructure and Resources is more than a technical programme. It is a historic opportunity to stimulate the rural economy.”
In a region where water scarcity, conflict, and climate pressures have long reinforced one another, the programme represents a strategic effort to show that well-managed shared water resources can instead drive stability and growth.
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Image Credit: Devdiscourse
