The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially launched the operational phase of a $46.5 million regional programme aimed at transforming the long-overlooked Ubangi River basin into a catalyst for economic growth, food security, and cross-border trade in Central Africa.
The initiative, known by its French acronym PREDIRE, was inaugurated in the DRC on 16 February 2026, with support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
PREDIRE focuses on three provinces Nord-Ubangi, Sud-Ubangi, and Mongala which have long faced poverty, weak infrastructure, and mounting climate-related challenges.
Stretching 2,272 kilometres, the Ubangi River flows through the DRC, the Central African Republic (CAR), and the Republic of Congo, serving as the main right-bank tributary of the Congo River. Despite its strategic position, the basin has remained largely underutilized.
Over the past three decades, changing rainfall patterns have reduced water levels and runoff in the Ubangi by up to 18%, negatively affecting biodiversity, hampering river navigation, and constraining trade.
The PREDIRE programme aims to reverse these trends. Funding comes from the African Development Fund, the AfDB’s concessional arm, the OPEC Fund, and the DRC government.
Its approach, described as a water–food security–climate nexus, integrates water infrastructure development with agricultural support and climate adaptation measures.
On the ground, this involves constructing climate-resilient water systems to support the DRC’s national agricultural transformation agenda, upgrading river monitoring and information systems, and enhancing navigation to facilitate trade with the CAR and the Republic of Congo.
The initiative is projected to directly benefit 2.4 million people, with women representing over half of that population, 71% under the age of 35, and 69% living in extreme poverty.
Beyond improving water access, PREDIRE plans to generate 3,400 jobs, including 1,200 permanent positions, while providing entrepreneurship training and supporting local livelihoods.
In partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the programme will implement a dedicated resilience component for the most vulnerable, directly assisting 25,000 people in fragile and displacement-affected communities and strengthening the capacities of over 1,300 institutional and community actors.
The DRC’s segment of PREDIRE is overseen by the Ministry of Rural Development and technically coordinated through the PRISE II project, which introduces modern tools for water governance, data-driven planning, and cross-border coordination.
This launch follows the commencement of the CAR component in August 2025, establishing the Ubangi basin as one of the most ambitious transboundary development programmes in Central Africa.
PREDIRE is part of a broader investment framework in the basin, complemented by an $8.7 million Global Environment Facility initiative, supported by $67 million in co-financing, which integrates environmental and ecosystem considerations across water, agriculture, and transport sectors.
Project coordinator Deo Nsunzu highlighted the programme’s significance: “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.”
For a region where water scarcity, conflict, and climate stress have historically reinforced one another, PREDIRE represents a strategic bet that well-managed shared rivers can instead foster resilience and development.