[1][2] 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.

[2] In January 2004, the project was endorsed by the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS), which by then was estimated to cost 403 million euros.

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, 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.

[4] 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.