The Democratic Republic of the Congo is preparing for the country's second census, in what President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo has described as "an act of sovereignty, an instrument of public justice and an essential lever for the effectiveness of State action".
- •The DRC’s population is estimated at more than 112.8 million inhabitants – almost four times the 1984 figure, the last and only time the country has conducted a census.
- •Kinshasa has mobilised US$30 million from the state budget for the census, while the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire has pledged support for data collection equipment and knowledge exchange.
- •The African Development Bank Group has committed US$80 million to the exercise and other partners including the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations, have also announced contributions.
"Far from being a simple technical or administrative exercise, this event marks a moment of truth for our country, an event where our nation decides we should get to know each other better to govern itself better, plan better and transform itself better," said President Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo, who chaired the roundtable.
Of the AfDB's commitment, US$50 million will fund census operations, while US$30 million will support capacity-building for national institutions including the National Institute of Statistics (INS) and those involved in the planning, programming, budgeting, and monitoring and evaluation (PPBME) chain.
