Democratic Republic of the Congo

Conflict has held back development in this resource-rich country.

Capital: Kinshasa Other towns/cities: Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Kananga, Kisangani Population: 85.2-million (2018) GDP: $47.2-billion (2018) GDP per capita (PPP): $932 Currency: Congolese Franc (CDF)

Regional Economic Community:

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) Landmass: 2 267 048km² Coastline: 37km Resources: Cobalt, copper, niobium, tantalum, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, uranium, coal, timber, germanium, lithium, granite, coffee, sugar, palm oil, rubber, tea, cotton, cocoa, quinine, cassava, bananas, plantains. Main economic sectors: Mining, agriculture. Other sectors: Mineral processing, consumer products, metal products, timber, cement, ship repair. New sectors for investment: Energy (vast hydropower resources), agriculture (DRC has 80-million hectares of arable land), infrastructure.

Key projects: The DRC participates in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI). Chief exports: Cobalt, diamonds, copper, gold, cobalt, wood products, crude oil, coffee. Top export destinations: China, Zambia, South Korea, Finland. Top import sources: China, South Africa, Zambia, Belgium, India, Tanzania. Main imports: Mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels, food. Infrastructure: 26 airports with paved runways; pipelines (62km gas, 77km oil, 756km refined products); roads 152 373km of which 3 047km paved (2015); railway 4 007km (2014); seaport at Banana; river or lake ports at Boma, Bumba, Kinshasa, Kisangani, Matadi, Mbandaka, Kindu, Bukavu, Goma, Kalemie; waterways 15 000km. ICT: ICT Development Index 2017 (ITU): 171. Mobile phone subscriptions per 100 inhabitants: 42 (2017). Internet users percent of population: 3.8% (2016). Climate: Most of country is in a central tropical basin. The Congo Basin is the continent’s largest water catchment area. Hot and humid in equatorial river basin. Cool and dry in southern highlands. Cool and wet in eastern highlands, with alternating wet seasons. Religion: Mostly Christian. Also Kimbanguist, Muslim and others. Modern history: Instability has been a constant in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Joseph Kabila became president when his father Laurent was assassinated in 2001. After winning elections in 2006, he controversially won a second term in 2011 and then refused to leave office in 2016. Eventually, in 2019, new president Felix Tshisekedi took office.

Although the country has vast mineral and timber resources, virtually unlimited hydropower potential and millions of acres of fertile soil, it struggles to produce enough food to feed its population. Conflict within the country and on its eastern border has created thousands of refugees and resulted in a lack of investment in infrastructure.

The World Bank reports that in 2018 the DRC emerged from the economic recession triggered by the decline in the global prices of its main export commodities.