DRC plans US$18.9M push to revive N’Sele agro industrial estate
The government wants to restart production at the long stalled N’Sele farm to supply Kinshasa and protect jobs.
DRC – The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plans a major public investment to bring operations back to the Presidential Agro Industrial Estate of N’Sele, a project once seen as a key food supply source for the capital.
Under the government’s three year public investment programme for 2026 to 2028, authorities have set aside 41.8 billion Congolese francs, about US$18.9 million, for the estate, according to official documents reviewed by Bankable.
Funding focus and current shutdown
Most of the funds, around 26.89 billion Congolese francs, equal to about US$12.2 million, will go toward buying farm equipment to restart crop and poultry production. The remaining amount will support repairs at the estate’s pig unit.
Local media reports say activities at N’Sele stopped on January 1, 2026 after funding gaps made daily operations impossible. In a statement shared by several outlets, staff described the impact on workers and facilities. “The farm has been at a standstill due to lack of funds, and several employees in the poultry units have gone home without pay,” the statement said.
A video attached to the same release showed empty chicken houses and an idle slaughter unit. Workers appealed directly to President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi to step in and save the project.
President Tshisekedi visited the estate in 2022, when managers outlined its scale. At the time, N’Sele had capacity for more than 18,000 laying hens and two large poultry houses that could hold over 9,000 broilers, enough to supply the slaughter unit every three weeks.
The N’Sele estate dates back to 1966 and was relaunched in 2013 through a public private deal with Israel’s LR Group Limited. The goal was to supply food to Kinshasa and nearby areas while creating direct and indirect jobs.
Wider push for agro industry links
The planned revival at N’Sele comes as the country backs other agro industrial projects. In December 2025, the African Development Bank approved a US$159.5 million loan to improve road and airport links serving the Ngandajika Agro Industrial Park in central DRC.
Léandre Bassolé, the bank’s Director General for Central Africa, said better access would support growth. “By increasing access to the Ngandajika park, we are strengthening a critical value chain and opening up new trade corridors,” he said.
Project manager Johnny Makwela added that poor transport had long raised costs for producers. “The new roads and air services will cut logistics costs and speed up the movement of goods,” he said.
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