International Driving Permit in Democratic Republic of the Congo

🗓 Facts checked against Congo (Democratic Rep.)'s road-traffic law and official sources. Research last updated: 30 October 2026. You may copy this information only if you provide a link back to this page.

⚠ This page is general information about driving rules, not legal advice. Rules change, and each authority applies its own — confirm your case with the relevant authority before you drive.

ℹ We are a private company. We are not a government body, a licensing or issuing authority, or a treaty organisation, and we are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting for any of them. The International Driver's Document we sell is a translation of your national driving licence: it is not a driving licence, and it is not a government-issued document.

• Driving in Congo (Democratic Rep.): key facts
• Do you need an International Driving Permit in Congo (Democratic Rep.)?
• What side of the road does Congo (Democratic Rep.) drive on?
• How long can you drive in Congo (Democratic Rep.) with a foreign licence?
• Is Congo (Democratic Rep.) a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?
• Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place
• Can you drive in Congo (Democratic Rep.) with your country's licence?
• Where to get an International Driving Permit
• Moving to Congo (Democratic Rep.)? Rules for new residents
• Driving rules in Congo (Democratic Rep.) tourists get fined for
• Read more about driving in Congo (Democratic Rep.)
• Sources

Driving in Congo (Democratic Rep.): key facts

Do you need an International Driving Permit in Congo (Democratic Rep.)?

The DRC is a party to both road-traffic conventions — the 1949 Geneva Convention (succession 6 March 1961) and the 1968 Vienna Convention (accession 25 July 1977) — but its own road code, the 1978 Code de la route (Loi n° 78/022), does not settle whether a visitor may drive on a licence or an IDP issued abroad. Its art. 69.1 recognises a national licence written in French, a national licence on the code's own model and an international permit on the code's 1968-Convention model, on condition that the permit is valid and was issued by the national or regional licensing commission ('délivré par la Commission nationale ou régionale de délivrance des permis de conduire'), the name the code gives the DRC's own licensing body. In art. 41(1) of the 1968 Convention, whose French wording art. 69.1 otherwise largely repeats, the condition is a permit issued by another Contracting Party ('délivré par une autre Partie contractante'). Art. 69.5 recognises permits issued in 1968-Convention states only in the residence cases it lists, no article names the 1949 Geneva permit, and none makes an IDP a condition of driving. Whether your licence or IDP is valid in the DRC is therefore not established: check with CONADEP before you travel. Foreign governments' advice conflicts, and neither is DRC law: UK government advice to British travellers is 'You'll need a 1968 International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in DRC'; France Diplomatie's practical-information page states that French and international driving permits are not valid there ('Les permis de conduire français ou internationaux ne sont pas valables') and that foreign nationals must obtain a DRC licence ('Les ressortissants étrangers doivent obtenir un permis de conduire en RDC'), pointing foreigners to CONADEP. The French statement sits in the road-transport section of France Diplomatie's traveller advice, which gives CONADEP's phone number and its offices near Ndolo airport, and it does not carve out short-stay visitors. Do not assume an IDP will end an argument at a checkpoint.

• Tourists and short-term visitors: The DRC's road code recognises a licence in French or on its own model, and an international permit on its model issued by the national or regional licensing commission (art. 69.1). It does not say whether a licence or IDP issued abroad qualifies. Check with the authorities before you travel; the answer below says what is known.

No specific penalty for driving without the required document was verified from an authoritative source. Unofficial legal database.

What side of the road does Congo (Democratic Rep.) drive on?

Congo (Democratic Rep.) drives on the right-hand side of the road, and overtaking is done on the left. Cars in Congo (Democratic Rep.) are left-hand drive.

How long can you drive in Congo (Democratic Rep.) with a foreign licence?

The DRC's road code names no visitor period for driving on a foreign licence: its licence title (Titre VII of the 1978 Code de la route) sets none. Whether a visitor may drive on a licence or IDP issued abroad at all is not established (art. 69). An IDP is in any case valid only for its own term — one year from issue for a 1949 IDP; up to three years for a 1968 IDP, never beyond the expiry of your home licence. Check with CONADEP before you travel. (Loi n° 78/022 du 30 août 1978 portant Nouveau Code de la route, Titre VII (no visitor period) and Annexe 3 (international permit valid three years from issue or until the home licence expires, whichever is earlier); 1968 Vienna Convention, Annex 7 (the same three-year rule); 1949 Geneva Convention, Annex 10 (one year from issue))

Planning to move to Congo (Democratic Rep.)? Different rules apply once you become a resident — see the residents section below.

Is Congo (Democratic Rep.) a party to the 1949 or 1968 Road Traffic Convention?

Congo (Democratic Rep.) is a Contracting Party to both United Nations Conventions on Road Traffic — the Geneva Convention of 19 September 1949 and the Vienna Convention of 8 November 1968. International Driving Permits of both the 1949 and the 1968 type are therefore issued against its framework; the answer below says what is established about which types Congo (Democratic Rep.) accepts from visitors.

• 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: succession on 6 Mar 1961.
• 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: accession on 25 Jul 1977.

Why acceptance of your licence varies from place to place

Whether a foreign country accepts your driving licence hangs on a tangle of variables: three different road-traffic conventions signed decades apart (1926, 1949, 1968) — the oldest predates the United Nations itself, and only the latter two were concluded under it — countries at different stages of joining each (signed vs. accepted vs. ratified), licences printed in alphabets local police can't read, vehicle-category systems that don't line up between countries, document generations that may not meet a convention's format even when the country is a member, bilateral deals between individual states, and local laws that are looser in one place and stricter in the next. The same licence can be fine at one border and rejected at the next — even at the next rental desk. The International Driving Permit exists to cut through most of it: a standardized, multilingual presentation of your existing licence, with harmonized category symbols, that most officials can read at a glance. It doesn't replace your national licence or grant new rights — you carry both — and it doesn't guarantee acceptance: a handful of destinations still require a local permit alongside or instead of it, but for most it meaningfully improves your odds.

Can you drive in Congo (Democratic Rep.) with your country's licence?

This answer is for tourists and temporary visitors. Moving to Congo (Democratic Rep.) as a resident? Different rules apply — see the residents section below. The DRC is a party to both road-traffic conventions — the 1949 Geneva Convention and the 1968 Vienna Convention — but its own road code, the 1978 Code de la route, does not settle whether a visitor may drive on a licence or an IDP issued abroad. Its art. 69.1 recognises a licence written in French or on the code's own model, and an international permit on its model, on condition that the permit was issued by the national or regional licensing commission — the name the code gives the DRC's own licensing body, where the 1968 Convention names another Contracting Party. No article names the 1949 permit, and none makes an IDP a condition of driving. Whatever country issued your licence, the answer is therefore Not established: check with CONADEP before you travel. UK government advice is that you need a 1968 IDP; France Diplomatie advises that French and international permits are not valid and that foreign nationals must apply to CONADEP for a DRC licence. In practice most visitors never face the question — car hire in Kinshasa is overwhelmingly hire-with-driver. Rules change — confirm with official sources before you travel. Last verified: October 2026.

Legend: "1949" — Geneva Convention on Road Traffic (IDP valid up to 1 year); "1968" — Vienna Convention (IDP valid up to 3 years).

Not established — the record does not settle whether you may drive here on this licence; confirm with the destination's licensing authority before you rely on it. The answer below says what could not be confirmed.

What you need to carry — Check with local authorities before travel

Why — The DRC's road code recognises a licence in French or on its own model, and an international permit on its model issued by the national or regional licensing commission (art. 69.1). It does not say whether a licence or IDP issued abroad qualifies. [1]

Sources and notes for the answer above

[1] Loi n° 78/022 du 30 août 1978 portant Nouveau Code de la route, art. 69.1 and 69.5

Where to get an International Driving Permit

An International Driving Permit must be obtained before you travel, and only certain countries may issue one to you — you cannot buy an official IDP from an unrelated country. Under the 1968 Vienna Convention it may be issued only by the Contracting Party where you normally reside and which issued or recognizes your licence — by that Party's competent authority or by an association it has duly empowered. Under the 1949 Geneva Convention it is issued by the competent authority of a Contracting State, or by an association that authority has duly empowered. Which body that is varies by country: a government agency in some, an authorized motoring club in others.

• Travelling from Congo (Democratic Rep.)? Congo (Democratic Rep.)'s official IDPs are issued by Commission Nationale de Delivrance des Permis de Conduire (CONADEP). Official site.
• Travelling from another country? Ask that country's driving-licence authority which body it authorizes to issue IDPs — a government agency in some countries, an authorized motoring club in others.

Separately, IDA offers a digital International Driver's Document — a translation of your national licence that you carry alongside it. It is not an International Driving Permit issued under the 1949 or 1968 conventions by the body your country authorizes for that purpose, and it is not a certified, sworn or otherwise official translation: no authority certifies it, and where a country requires an official or certified translation by law, our document does not satisfy that requirement. It is a private translation meant to make your national licence readable at rental desks and roadside checks.

Moving to Congo (Democratic Rep.)? Rules for new residents

France Diplomatie advises that foreign nationals must obtain a DRC licence, issued by CONADEP (Commission nationale de délivrance des permis). The DRC's road code itself recognises, among the residence cases it lists, a licence or international permit issued in a state party to the 1968 Vienna Convention to a holder whose normal residence has moved to the DRC since it was issued ('dont la résidence normale a été transférée sur le territoire zaïrois depuis cette délivrance'), and names no period (art. 69.5); the two do not agree. Whether you are settling or visiting, check with CONADEP before you rely on a licence or IDP issued abroad. Foreign-government travel advice.

Driving rules in Congo (Democratic Rep.) tourists get fined for

• Mandatory equipment: For any journey outside a city: suitable 4x4, good tyres plus a full-size spare, recovery gear, fuel and water reserves, first-aid kit, satellite or other communications independent of mobile coverage, and a planned evacuation route. Medical evacuation insurance is essential — see the emergency note.
• Drink-driving: The DRC's road code makes it an offence to drive with a blood-alcohol level of 1.00 g per mille (‰) or more, with a heavier penalty from 1.50 g ‰, and separately punishes driving while manifestly drunk (art. 104). Treat the working limit as zero: drink-driving in the DRC exposes you to detention and to an insurer walking away from the claim. Under art. 104 of the 1978 Code de la route, driving at 1.00 g ‰ or more is fined 20 to 100 zaïres (doubled for a repeat offence) and at 1.50 g ‰ or more 50 to 200 zaïres; driving while manifestly drunk is fined 100 to 500 zaïres, with three months' imprisonment for a repeat offence; refusing the medical checks carries the 1.00 g ‰ penalty, and a court may suspend the licence for up to three years (art. 121). The zaïre is a defunct currency. Realistic exposure is detention, prosecution and voided insurance cover.
• Speed limits: Art. 18 of the 1978 Code de la route: 60 km/h in built-up areas, where signs may set a lower or a higher limit but never above 80 km/h; 90 km/h outside built-up areas; 120 km/h on motorways and on roads with at least two lanes each way. Lower limits apply to buses, coaches and, on motorways, vehicles over 7.5 t. Drive well below the limits on unsurfaced roads, obey posted signs, and expect checkpoints, curfews and route closures to dictate your pace more than any limit does.
• Carry the full set: passport with valid visa, home licence, a matching IDP (1949 or 1968), vehicle registration and locally valid insurance. Checkpoints are frequent and manned by police, army and other services; a missing document is the usual pretext for a shakedown.
• The two governments' advice conflicts on the IDP. UK FCDO: 'You'll need a 1968 International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in DRC. You will not be able to buy an IDP outside the UK, so get one before you travel.' France Diplomatie: French and international permits 'ne sont pas valables' and foreign nationals must obtain a DRC licence via CONADEP. Both are current, and neither is DRC law; the DRC's road code does not settle the question either. Check with CONADEP before you travel, whatever the length of your stay.
• Self-driving is rarely the right call. FCDO (updated 29 July 2026) advises against all travel to Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu, Maniema, Tanganyika and Haut-Lomami, to within 50 km of the Central African Republic border, and to the Kwamouth territory of Mai-Ndombe; and against all but essential travel to parts of Kinshasa (N'djili and Kimbanseke south of the airport access road), the N1 between Menkao and Kenge, Bangoka International Airport at Kisangani, and Upemba National Park. FCDO's zoning is targeted, not blanket — central Kinshasa is not in either category — but France Diplomatie advises against tourist travel anywhere in the DRC ('Les voyages touristiques sont déconseillés sur l’ensemble du territoire') and against all but essential travel to the parts of the country it does not rule out altogether.
• Car hire in Kinshasa is mostly hire-with-driver: FCDO notes 'self-drive options are limited. Most car hire companies will only let you hire a car with a driver.' For most visitors the licence question is academic — a vetted driver is the standard and safer arrangement.
• Roads: only a small fraction of the network is paved, with asphalt effectively limited to a few trunk routes linking the main cities. Outside those, expect unsurfaced roads, seasonal impassability, no lighting and no roadside assistance. Crowd reaction after a collision can be hostile: France Diplomatie warns that after any accident, even one with damage only, the risk of a crowd gathering and turning on the driver is high, and advises its nationals who are directly threatened not to stay at the scene and to call the embassy's security post at once.

Read more about driving in Congo (Democratic Rep.)

• 10 Interesting Facts About Democratic Republic of the Congo
• Best Places to Visit in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Watch what driving in Congo (Democratic Rep.) looks like

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Sources

1. National road-traffic law
2. Loi n° 78/022 du 30 août 1978 portant Nouveau Code de la route, Titre VII (no visitor period) and Annexe 3 (international permit valid three years from issue or until the home licence expires, whichever is earlier); 1968 Vienna Convention, Annex 7 (the same three-year rule); 1949 Geneva Convention, Annex 10 (one year from issue)
3. Resident licence conversion rule
4. UK FCDO — DRC road travel: UK advice that you need a 1968 IDP, and the hire-with-driver note
5. UK FCDO — DRC travel advice, current zoning, updated 29 July 2026
6. UK FCDO — DRC emergency services: no general medical number; police 112, fire 118
7. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic: Democratic Republic of the Congo, succession 6 March 1961
8. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic: Democratic Republic of the Congo, accession 25 July 1977
9. France Diplomatie — DRC security advice: tourist travel advised against throughout the country; what to do after a collision
10. Arrêté ministériel n° VPM/MTVCD/CAB/036/2024 du 23 novembre 2024 (CONADEP) — the new biometric DRC licence, issued from 18 (art. 6); cites the 1978 Code de la route in its preamble
11. CONADEP — licence offices and phone numbers (Ndolo, Kinshasa: +243 853 084 444)
12. Commission Nationale de Delivrance des Permis de Conduire (CONADEP) — authorized IDP issuer in Congo (Democratic Rep.)
13. UN Treaty Collection — 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic
14. UN Treaty Collection — 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic