Before you start

Your valid foreign licence and whatever authentication CONADEP asks for
Age 18 or over
Passport and establishment visa — plus any Loi 86-007 dérogation
For the vehicle: registration, compulsory third-party insurance and inspection paperwork

Step-by-step

1
Get the CONADEP biometric licence
CONADEP is the sole issuing authority for both the national and the international permit. The card carries twenty-two visible and invisible security features including a chip; the state reissued everyone rather than police a licence that was too widely forged. The enrolment network has been extending province by province since the relaunch, so a provincial applicant should expect it to be slower than a Kinshasa one.
In personWho: YouNot published; allow for the provincial rolloutNo official tariff we could verify — pay against the DGRAD note de perception, never to an intermediary
2
Choose the vehicle for the roads, not the city
Ground clearance, suspension and tyres decide whether a vehicle is usable here, and spare parts arrive by air or by a very long road. Most organisations run high-clearance 4x4s for that reason rather than for image, and maintain them on far shorter intervals than a home-market schedule.
In personWho: You and your organisationBefore you commit to a vehicleMaintenance and freighted parts are the real motoring budget
3
Treat inter-provincial travel as an expedition
Mbuji-Mayi's connections to neighbouring provinces are weak and overland journeys need fuel margin, recovery equipment, communications that do not depend on a mobile network, and an acceptance that the rains change the answer. Where the destination is another mining zone, check Loi 86-007 first — it restricts circulation, not just residence.
In personWho: You and your organisationPlan days, not hoursThe contingency you should not skip
4
Read the insurance geography clauses
Third-party cover is compulsory. Congolese motor policies commonly carry geographic exclusions, and you want to know which provinces yours covers before a field trip rather than after an incident. Ask for it in writing.
In personWho: YouBefore the car movesVaries by insurer
5
Stay in the vehicle at checkpoints
British government advice for the DRC is specific: when stopped by security forces, remain inside the vehicle and show your documents through closed windows. In a province where a foreigner's presence may additionally engage a mining-zone statute, having the complete file to hand matters more here than anywhere else in the country.
In personWho: YouEvery journeyNone

Documents you’ll need

Original foreign licence and any authentication from your home authority
Passport, establishment visa and any Loi 86-007 dérogation or permis de circulation
Photographs to CONADEP's specification
Vehicle registration, insurance certificate and inspection paperwork

Things most newcomers don’t know

Under 20 km of paved road, in a city of nearly three million.

That figure comes from a 1991 inventory and it remains the honest starting point for any conversation about moving around Mbuji-Mayi. It shapes the vehicle you need, the journey times you should assume, and how far an ambulance can realistically be expected to get.

Source: 1991 road inventory, cited in standard references on the city

Loi 86-007 restricts circulation as well as residence.

The 1986 statute forbids foreigners both to stay and to move in designated mining zones, and the permit the commission issues is a permis de circulation. That makes a road trip in this province a legal question and not only a logistical one — check before you plan, not before you leave.

Source: Loi n° 86-007 du 27 décembre 1986, art. 2 and 4

Anything written before 2025 about DRC licences describes a dead document.

The CONADEP relaunch in November 2024 and enforcement from 30 June 2025 replaced the licence entirely. A source telling you an old Congolese card or an International Driving Permit is fine for a resident was written for a different regime.

Source: CONADEP relaunch November 2024; enforcement 30 June 2025

Parts are a supply-chain question, not a shopping question.

In a city reached mainly by air, a broken vehicle can be immobilised for weeks waiting on a component. Organisations here hold spares rather than order them, and an individual buying a vehicle should think about parts availability before specification.

Source: Practice among organisations operating in Kasaï