The Federal Government is supporting the consolidation of the democratic process and calling for lasting political and economic reforms in order to prevent further destabilisation in the country and the region. A current priority is to improve the security and humanitarian situation, especially in eastern Congo.

The then Foreign Minister Heiko Maas paid a visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 2019. In the same year, President Félix Tshisekedi made his first trip to Germany, where he met Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier and the then Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel. He travelled to Berlin for talks with Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz in April 2024. In November 2023, Prime Minister Sama Lukonde visited Berlin for the G20 Compact with Africa Conference.

Bilateral development cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo currently comprises an ongoing portfolio totalling around 500 million euro. A comprehensive humanitarian assistance portfolio is also in place (44.5 million euro in 2023, compared with 52 million euro the previous year).

German development cooperation with the Democratic Republic of the Congo concentrates on three core issues: peace and societal cohesion, with a focus on peace efforts in the east of the country and increasing the population’s resilience; the protection of natural resources, including support for six nature conservation areas and the people living in peripheral areas; and training and sustainable growth for good jobs, with projects to ensure monitoring and transparency in the mining sector, for example. Individual energy projects also receive support.

Germany’s humanitarian assistance efforts include providing food aid, promoting specific protection projects for girls and women to tackle sexual and gender-based violence, strengthening health services and clinics, and providing water, sanitation and hygiene services for people in need.

Economic relations between Germany and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are limited.

The Goethe-Institut has maintained a liaison office in Kinshasa since 2015. The Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung and the Hanns Seidel Foundation also have offices in Kinshasa.