The Kinshasa Financial Center (

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

: ''Centre Financier de Kinshasa'') is a

financial hub A financial centre (financial center in American English) or financial hub is a location with a significant concentration of commerce in financial services. The commercial activity that takes place in a financial centre may include banking, ...

strategically located in the Gombe commune of

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ), formerly named Léopoldville from 1881–1966 (), is the Capital city, capital and Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kinshasa is one of the world's fastest-grow ...

, in the western region of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. Covering a total area of 41,000 square meters, it is the largest financial center in the DRC. The center houses key institutions such as the

Ministries of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfoli ...

and Budget, the General Directorates, the General Inspectorate of Finance, the General Secretariat of Finance, and the

Development Bank Development finance institution (DFI), also known as a Development bank, is a financial institution that provides risk capital for economic development projects on a non-commercial basis. DFIs are often established and owned by governments or ...

. It is administered by the state-owned Investment Fund commercial entity, which supervises real estate assets like the financial and convention centers. The center was commissioned by President

Félix Tshisekedi Félix Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo (; born 13 June 1963) is a Congolese politician who has served as the fifth president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, since 2019. He was the leader of the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (Demo ...

in February 2022 and was officially inaugurated on December 19, 2023. It was constructed by the Turkish company Milvest, a subsidiary of Miller Holding.

History

Construction

In February 2022, Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

visited the DRC as a part of Turkey–DRC bilateral relationship. During his visit, Erdogan signed several deals on security, defense, and infrastructure with the country. A conspicuous facet of these accords involved the participation of the Turkish construction firm Milvest, which the DRC pre-financed $290 million for constructing the Kinshasa Financial Center. The construction commenced in June 2022 in the Gombe commune near a Turkish English International School, with an additional investment of $60 million for an affiliated hotel, which will be transferred to the DRC after a 49-year Turkish tenure. The project employed around 3,000 workers, including 1,800 Congolese and 1,200 Turkish workers. The center was initially envisioned to span 18 months, featuring a

skyline A skyline is the wikt:outline, outline or shape viewed near the horizon. It can be created by a city's overall structure, or by human intervention in a rural area, rural setting, or in nature that is formed where the sky meets buildings or the ...

with

twin towers Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two e ...

of more than fifteen levels opposite the Courthouse. The first 20-story twin tower houses the Ministries of Finance at 107 meters, while the second 16-story twin tower accommodates the Ministries of Budget at a height of 90 meters. Parenthetically, the structures include a 16-story Finance Center at 78 meters, a 5-story government edifice, a 5-story Ministry of Technology tax office and

data center A data center is a building, a dedicated space within a building, or a group of buildings used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Since IT operations are crucial for busines ...

, a 13-story, 66-meter 5-star hotel, and two office buildings with a

helipad A helipad is the landing area of a heliport, in use by helicopters, powered lift, and vertical lift aircraft to land on surface. While helicopters and powered lift aircraft are able to operate on a variety of relatively flat surfaces, a fa ...

. The architectural plan also incorporates

catering Catering is the business of providing food services at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major service ...

and retail spaces, two ultra-modern

auditoriums An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoriums can be found in entertainment venues, community halls, and t ...

within the Kinshasa Congress Center, boasting a capacity for 3,000 attendees across 3,500 square meters, as well as green spaces, a

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

, a

water feature In landscape architecture and garden design, a water feature is one or more items from a range of fountains, jeux d'eau, pools, ponds, rills, artificial waterfalls, and streams. Before the 18th century they were usually powered by gravity ...

, and two

parking facilities Parking is the act of stopping and disengaging a vehicle and usually leaving it unoccupied. Parking on one or both sides of a road is often permitted, though sometimes with restrictions. Some buildings have parking facilities for use of the bu ...

capable of accommodating 1,100 vehicles.

Unveiling

On December 19, 2023, amid the

general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...

, the Kinshasa Financial Center was unveiled alongside other buildings at Université Pédagogique Nationale and

Kinshasa General Hospital Kinshasa General Hospital ( French: ''Hôpital Général de Kinshasa'') is a hospital located in the Gombe commune of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Before the ousting of President Mobutu Sese Seko, it was known as Mama Yemo Hospital aft ...

. During the inauguration ceremony, an underground parking lot was introduced to the public.

References

{{coord missing, Democratic Republic of the Congo 2023 establishments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo Buildings and structures in Kinshasa Buildings and structures completed in 2023 Politics of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Gombe, Kinshasa