DRC: Agriculture a priority of the government in the 2025 budget
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) plans to increase resources allocated to agriculture by 13% in its 2025 budget proposal. This announcement was made by Prime Minister Judith Suminwa when she submitted the draft finance bill for the 2025 fiscal year to Parliament, which is expected to review and adopt it within a month and a half.
However, the exact scope of this increase remains unclear. The Prime Minister’s statement did not specify whether the boost would be solely for agricultural production activities or for the entire sector, including the acquisition of inputs, the construction of storage and processing infrastructures, and the development of transport routes.
In her 2025 budget guidelines addressed to government members, Prime Minister Suminwa emphasized that the resources allocated to the agricultural sector should help reach 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP), in line with the Maputo Declaration, which serves as a reference in this area. She also stressed that the budget must account for the entire value chain, including the construction and maintenance of 10.000 kilometers of agricultural roads across the country’s 145 territories.
It’s worth noting that the Ministry of Agriculture is one of the seven ministries eligible for results-based budget management, with specific program budgets. The Ministry of Rural Development, which has been active in launching agricultural road construction projects, is also involved.
For the 2024-2026 investment plan, the budget allocated to these two ministries totals 7,316 billion Congolese francs (about $2.6 billion). The government’s ability to effectively use these resources for agricultural development will be a key performance indicator to watch.
Although efforts were highlighted in a recent report by the Minister of Finance, challenges remain, including the high proportion of salary expenditures and the need to improve the timely payment of committed expenses.
More broadly, the 2025 finance bill submitted to Parliament and the Senate outlines a 21% increase in the overall budget, with resources and expenditures projected to reach 49.847 billion Congolese francs (over $18 billion). To meet these objectives, the government is relying on improved tax revenue collection and rising commodity prices, which will help boost royalties.
