Kinshasa

Kinshasa is Africa's largest city and the DRC's capital—a megacity of 17 million people (2024) growing at 4.39% annually, adding 746,000 residents per year. The city faces directly across the Congo River from Brazzaville (Republic of Congo), forming one of the world's only cross-river twin capitals. While mining drives DRC's $79 billion GDP (2025), Kinshasa concentrates political power, services, and what formal economy exists: 44% of residents have electricity access versus 1% in rural areas. President Tshisekedi's January 2024 second inauguration prioritized infrastructure and anti-corruption, though the Inga III hydropower project ($14 billion, 4,800 MW) remains delayed beyond original 2024-2025 targets. The 2022 US-DRC-Zambia MoU aims to develop an EV battery value chain, positioning Kinshasa as a hub for clean energy diplomacy—even as eastern provinces fall to rebel control. With 65% of DRC's population under 25 and GDP per capita at $1,133 (39% below African low-income average), Kinshasa embodies the country's paradox: resource wealth, demographic dynamism, and state dysfunction existing simultaneously. By 2043, DRC's population will reach 164 million—but whether Kinshasa can absorb the growth depends on infrastructure investment that hasn't materialized.