The Democratic Republic of the Congo has a chronic shortage of houses as many people live in unregistered shacks. This crisis is most prevalent in war-torn urban areas and these people deserve good housing, according to the government. Since January, there has been a Ministry of Housing who will put its budget to work in providing homes for the slum-dwellers.

Kinshasa currently has an estimatated one and a half million functional homes, but it is estimated that between four and five million people still live in and around a ruined Kinshasa. Since hosting the Assembly of the Union in Kinshasa, the governing party has made it a focal point to restore the former capital and eventually return the seat of government to the city.

The biggest cities of the Congo, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Kisangani, Tshikapa and to a lesser extent Bukavu are all seriously damaged by the years of conflict or stalled maintenance due to a stagnating economy. The Ministry of Housing will place its attention to Kinshasa and the aforementioned cities first, as the urban centres draw refugees from the countryside and are the economic engine of the country.

The Ministry of Housing will construct one family homes across all cities, varying from low level appartments to simple ground-floor only dwellings. The Ministry has decided to contract local construction companies and will fund them in such a way that enables them to hire many more locals. As a condition to gaining the contracts they will have to hire among the homeless and slums to provide an economic boost to these people before providing them with free housing.

The goal is to build in the next two to three years:

• At least 2,000,000 homes in Kinshasa
• At least 600,000 homes in Mbuji-Mayi
• At least 400,000 homes in Kananga and Kisangani
• At least 200,000 homes in Tshikapa and Bukavu
• And if at all possible at least 800,000 homes across the rest of the nation