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The '''Brazzaville–Kinshasa Bridge''' is a proposed road-rail bridge construction project over the [[Congo River]].
== Background ==
The cities of [[Brazzaville]] and [[Kinshasa]], capitals of the [[Republic of the Congo]] (ROC) and the [[Democratic Republic of the Congo]] (DRC) respectively, are situated on opposite banks of the [[Congo River]]. They are the closest national capitals on Earth (excluding the [[Vatican City|Vatican]], located in [[Rome]], since the city-state has no capital).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jennings |first1=Ken |author-link=Ken Jennings |title=The World's Closest Capitals Are Just 2 Miles Apart |url=https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-closest-capitals-are-just-2-miles-apart |access-date=8 September 2021 |work=Condé Nast Traveler |date=6 November 2017 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027064801/https://www.cntraveler.com/story/the-worlds-closest-capitals-are-just-2-miles-apart |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="14apr03">{{cite news |title=Relance du projet d’érection d’un pont sur le fleuve Congo entre Kinshasa et Brazzaville |url=http://www.congopage.com/Relance-du-projet-d-erection-d-un |trans-title=Relaunch of the project to erect a bridge over the Congo River between Kinshasa and Brazzaville |access-date=8 September 2021 |work=Congopage |date=14 April 2003 |language=fr |archive-date=7 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141107191610/http://www.congopage.com/Relance-du-projet-d-erection-d-un |url-status=live }}</ref> Plans for a bridge crossing the Congo River to connect the two countries were financed in 1991 but shelved in 1993 due to a lack of sufficient funding and turmoil in the ROC.<ref name="14apr03"/>
The project was revived a decade later in 2003 by the ROC's Transport Infrastructure Unit (''Cellule d’infrastructures de transport''), which had previously cooperated with the [[European Union]] on similar projects in [[Central Africa]].<ref name="14apr03"/> The proposed bridge was relocated downstream to take advantage of the narrower and rocky riverbed which would facilitate easier erection of bridge
The project stalled in 2005 when DRC presidential chief of staff [[Léonard She Okitundu]] expressed that the project would adversely affect economic activity in its port towns of [[Boma, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Boma]] and [[Matadi]], which are key contributors to its economy. The DRC refused to endorse the bridge project without a commitment by the [[New Partnership for Africa's Development]] (NEPAD) to finance a deepwater port in [[Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo|Banana]], its only city on the Atlantic coast. Okitundu also confirmed that sanctions by the [[African Union]] meant the DRC had been excluded from negotiations with NEPAD regarding the projects.<ref>{{cite news |title=La Rdc s’oppose au projet pont - route- rail entre Kinshasa et Brazzaville |url=http://www.congopage.com/La-Rdc-s-oppose-au-projet-pont |access-date=8 September 2021 |work=Congopage |date=26 August 2005 |language=fr |trans-title=The DRC opposes the bridge - road - rail project between Kinshasa and Brazzaville |archive-date=6 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306111918/http://www.congopage.com/La-Rdc-s-oppose-au-projet-pont |url-status=live }}</ref> A 2010 report by the [[World Bank]] stated that the proposed bridge would instead increase maritime traffic to [[Pointe-Noire]], ROC's main port city on the Atlantic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Infrastructure de la République du Congo : Une perspective continentale |trans-title=Infrastructure of the Republic of Congo: A Continental Perspective |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/AICD-RC_Country_Report-FR.pdf |website=World Bank |access-date=8 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161024085914/http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTAFRICA/Resources/AICD-RC_Country_Report-FR.pdf |language=fr |archive-date=24 October 2016 |page=1 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Following a study in 2009, the project
Construction works have since been repeatedly delayed
== Gauge ==
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