Kinshasa growth fails to lift living standards: World Bank

The Story in Brief

Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, is one of Africa’s fastest-growing cities, yet its expansion has coincided with falling living standards for most residents, World Bank data shows. The population grew at 5.1 per cent annually between 1984 and 2010, and is projected to reach 26 million by 2030, potentially overtaking Lagos as Africa’s most populous city. But poverty incidence stood at nearly 53 per cent in 2012, and household surveys from 2012 and 2018 reveal a clear decline in wellbeing for the poorest 85 per cent of households, according to a World Bank policy research paper.

Kinshasa’s economy remains largely local, producing about 60 per cent non-tradable goods, compared with more globally integrated cities. The informal sector employs 97.5 per cent of workers, and 74.6 per cent of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance Africa reports. Rural-to-urban migration is driven mainly by family reasons (41 per cent) and education (23 per cent), not conflict, contrary to broader national patterns.