CONGO, DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE

COUNTRY OVERVIEW

LOCATION AND SIZE.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC; the country is often simply called the "Congo" or "Congo-Kinshasa" to distinguish it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo) is located in Central Africa. The Congo is the third-largest country in Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic (1,577 kilometers, or 980 miles), Sudan (628 kilometers, or 390 miles), Uganda (765 kilometers, or 475 miles), Rwanda (217 kilometers, or 135 miles), Burundi (233 kilometers, or 145 miles), Tanzania (473 kilometers, or 294 miles, all on Lake Tanganyika), Zambia (1,930 kilometers, or 1,199 miles), Angola (2,511 kilometers, or 1,560 miles), and the Republic of the Congo (2,410 kilometers, or 1,498 miles), and has a small coastline of 37 kilometers (23 miles) on the South Atlantic Ocean. The Congo is 2,345,410 square kilometers (905,563 square miles), slightly less than one-fourth the size of the United States.

Kinshasa is the capital of the Congo. The Congo's other major cities are Lubumbashi, Mbuji-Mayi, Kolwezi, Kisangani, and Matadi.

POPULATION.

As of July 2000 the population of the Congo was estimated at 51,964,999, making it the third-most populous country in Africa. The birth rate was 46.44 per 1,000 persons and the death rate was 15.38 per 1,000 persons according to 2000 estimates. Congolese women on average bore 6.92 children in 2000. As of the year 2000, the Congo's estimated infant mortality rate was 101.71 deaths per 1,000 live births. Males have a life expectancy of 46.72 years while females have a life expectancy of 50.83 years. Some 48 percent of the population is under age 15, while only 3 percent of the population is older than 65 years.

The Congo is made up of more than 200 tribes. The 4 largest tribes in the Congo are the Mongo, Luba, Kongo, and Mangbetu-Azonde. Approximately 700 local languages and dialects are spoken in the Congo. The majority of Congolese speak one of the following languages: Kikongo, Lingala, Tshiluba, Swahili, and French. Most of the Congolese population lives in rural areas, while one-third of the population is urban.

About 80 percent of the Congolese population is Christian. Most non-Christians have traditional African religious beliefs.

OVERVIEW OF ECONOMY

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC, or the Congo) is a nation rich in natural resources, including diamonds, cobalt, and copper. The DRC also has vast onshore oil reserves which it has yet to exploit. Despite its potential wealth, however, the Congo's economy has drastically declined since the 1950s. Prior to a bitter war in 1998, the Congolese government had tightened fiscal policy and managed to curb the country's runaway inflation and the drastic depreciation of its currency. Most recently, however, those gains have been erased as a result of the war that began in the summer of 1998. The Congo's economic plight is exacerbated by the reduction of foreign business operations as a result of the war. The war, however, is not the only reason for the Congo's economic woes. The country's poor infrastructure, inoperative legal system, corruption, and lack of openness in economic policy and financial operations continue to be further obstacles to investment and growth. Although there have been a number of meetings between the Congolese government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to develop a coherent economic plan, most reforms are on hold.

During the Cold War, the Congo (then known as Zaire) was a key figure in the United States' African policy because of its strategic location in the center of the continent. Approximately half of all U.S. aid designated for Africa went to Zaire. Under the dictatorship of Mobutu Sese Seko, who controlled the country for more than 35 years, widespread corruption blossomed and the diversion of public resources for personal gain hindered economic growth. The United States supported Mobutu from the 1960s until 1990. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989, however, the Congo declined in importance in U.S. policy and U.S. financial backing was greatly reduced.

Mobutu ran the Zairian economy like his personal piggy bank. From 1965 through 1997, Mobutu and his associates stole billions of dollars from the Zairian economy. Because of this kleptocracy (government institutionalized theft), Zaire's infrastructure crumbled. In 1971 Mobutu legalized his plunder of the Zairian economy under the guise of "Zairianization," a law which effectively turned over to Mobutu and his associates ownership of over 2,000 foreign-owned businesses. These businesses ranged from medium-sized grocery stores to huge billion-dollar mining conglomerates, and were the mainstay of the Zairian economy. As a result of inexperience and mismanagement, many of these nationalized companies became bankrupt, and the Zairian economy came to a halt. Realizing that the Zairian economy was in a tailspin, Mobutu returned many of the businesses to their rightful owners. The Zairian economy, however, never rebounded.

Mobutu and his associates further crippled the Zairian economy by openly flouting and discouraging the application of the rule of law (a term which refers to a broad system of laws and regulations that keep social and economic order). Instead of the rule of law, Mobutu installed a system of patronage which had at its pinnacle Mobutu and his family. Mobutu's system of patronage replaced the Zairian judicial system as the true arbiter of disputes. By 1997, at the time of his ouster, Mobutu's corrupt government and his system of patronage had laid waste Zaire's economy and social fabric.

Mobutu's regime began to crumble following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. Not only did the United States withdraw aid, but the Congo fared no better with the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Both international aid organizations cut off aid to the Congo in early 1990. As a result, the country was incapable of servicing its external debt and by 1993 both the IMF and the World Bank suspended the country's borrowing rights. Further compounding the Congo's economic malaise was the promulgation (to make known by open declaration) of a new currency, the "new zaire." The new zaire was not only overvalued against foreign currencies, but inflation rose to a dizzying 9,000 percent by early 1994. In 1993, 5 new zaires could buy a British pound. Four years later, it took 200,000 new zaires to buy 1 pound. In 1997, following Mobutu's removal, a new currency called the France Congolese was introduced, but it too faced real instability. There were, in the late 1990s, many informal exchange rates in the country, and the only currencies of real value came from outside the country.

In May 1997 Laurent Kabila, an unknown rebel supported by Rwanda and Uganda, toppled the Mobutu regime. As the head of the Alliance des Forces Démocratiques pour la Libération du Congo-Zaire (AFDL), Kabila renamed the country the Democratic Republic of Congo and made attempts to reform the tax system and the police force, and repair the decrepit road system. Unfortunately, President Kabila's attempts were too little and came too late to solve the Congo's economic and social problems.

By August 1998 the coalition of armed militias which had supported Kabila fell apart, plunging the nation into a bloody war that further damaged an already broken economy. Warring forces with ethnic ties to Uganda and Rwanda soon brought these and most of the remainder of Congo's neighbors into the conflict. Much of eastern Congo was a battleground for warring forces from these surrounding nations, some of whom are fighting against each other on Congolese soil. The country is now divided into regions under rebel control and regions ruled by the Kabila regime. Commerce between these regions has come to a halt.

In January of 2001 Laurent Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards, but his son, Joseph Kabila, stepped in to continue his father's disastrous regime. Joseph Kabila has suggested that he would like to liberalize the economy, and hopes to capitalize on diminished fighting within the country. However, he has inherited a country whose major economic engines—the mining companies—are held by powerful government-run agencies to whom Kabila owes his political power. Bringing these companies back into private hands, and bringing anything like normal economic order back to this shattered country, will be Kabila's great challenge.

POLITICS, GOVERNMENT, AND TAXATION

On May 17, 1997, with the clandestine support of Rwanda, Uganda, and the United States, Laurent Kabila toppled President Mobutu. Mobutu had been at the helm of the Congo for more than 3 decades. For the most part, Zairians (as the Congolese were then called) welcomed Kabila and even embraced the idea of renaming Zaire the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Even so, peace in the Congo was fleeting.

Kabila imposed rule by decree. All governmental powers were vested in the executive branch, which even had the power to appoint and to dismiss members of the judiciary. Not surprisingly, Kabila filled his 26-member cabinet with loyalists from his political party, the Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Congo-Zaire (AFDL). By Kabila's decree, the AFDL was the only political party that could engage in political activities.

At the inception of his rule, Kabila lowered the inflation rate and improved internal security. However, some armed groups remained beyond his control, including the Hutu/Interahamwe, Mai-Mai soldiers, and the Tutsi Banyamulenge. Upon taking command, Kabila promised reform. At first, Kabila claimed that his government was one of transition and would lead to a new constitution and elections by 1999. During his tenure in power, however, elections were never held and a 1998 constitution was not finalized. Although Kabila's stated aim in toppling the Mobutu regime was restoring democracy to the Congo, his rule resembled that of his predecessor more so than a democracy. When Kabila banned every political party save his own, protests grew both domestically and internationally.

In the summer of 1998, Kabila attempted to gain autonomy from Rwanda and Uganda, which led to war. Kabila's first move was to expel the Rwandan and Ugandan troops that helped him topple the Mobutu regime. This war eventually embroiled the rest of the countries in the region. On the one side fighting against the Kabila government were the Rally for Congolese Democracy and the Movement for the Liberation of the Congo, which are supported by Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi. Fighting on the side of the Kabila government were Angola, Namibia, Chad, Zimbabwe, the Congolese army, and the Interhamwe (the former Rwandan-Hutu army exiled in the Congo). All the belligerents in this war had their own separate reasons for intervening. Rwanda, Uganda, and Angola wanted to protect their borders. Zimbabwe wanted to maintain the balance of power in the region. But all of them wished to participate in the bounty of the Congo's vast riches.

The warring parties reached a cease-fire in Lusaka, Zambia, in July 1999. The parties memorialized the terms of their cease fire in the Lusaka Peace Accord, which called for a cessation of war, a peacekeeping force comprised of international troops mostly from Africa, and the commencement of a "national dialogue" on the Congo's future. Unfortunately, the Peace Accord was not implemented and only lip-service was devoted to the national dialogue.

President Laurent Kabila was assassinated on January 16, 2001, in Kinshasa by one of his own soldiers. His son, Major General Joseph Kabila, was appointed as interim president on January 26, 2001. At the beginning of his rule, Joseph Kabila made valiant efforts to rekindle the Lusaka Peace Accord, and Rwanda and Uganda have begun removing their troops from the Congo. In March 2001, the UN inserted peacekeeping troops in areas where Rwandan and Ugandan forces had withdrawn. It remains to be seen, however, if peace will come to the Congo and if Joseph Kabila will engage the country in a national dialogue.

During the rule of Laurent Kabila, U.S.-Congolese relations soured. In fact, the United States and other western nations largely blamed Kabila for the perpetuation of the war. However, relations between the Congo and the United States seem to be improving since Joseph Kabila has come to power, as demonstrated by the meeting between Joseph Kabila and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell early in the new Bush administration.

The government collects taxes primarily from businesses. Tax collection is arbitrary and many charge that harassment from tax authorities has lately reached unprecedented levels. Moreover, taxes have served to enrich corrupt government officials.

INFRASTRUCTURE, POWER, AND COMMUNICATIONS

The Congo's infrastructure is virtually non-existent and is a major impediment to economic improvement. Though there are an estimated 157,000 kilometers (97,560 miles) of roads in the country, most of them are poorly maintained and there are no major paved roads connecting the regions of the country. Most goods are transported by air. The Congo has 6 major airports located in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kinsangani, Goma, Mbuji-Mai, and Gbadolite, and hundreds of small landing strips elsewhere in the country. There were 5,138 kilometers (3,193 miles) of railways in 1995, but most

of these were destroyed or damaged during the wars of the late 1990s.

The production of electricity contributes merely 1 percent of the country's GDP. Yet, the Congo's hydro-electric potential is extraordinary. During the 1970s, Congolese and foreign investors, principally from the United States, invested heavily in the Inga-Shaba hydroelectric facility, but today the dam is operating at only a small fraction of its capacity. In 1998 the country produced 5.74 billion kilowatt-hours of total electric power, the vast majority of which was consumed domestically.

The Congo's telecommunications infrastructure, like its roads, is also virtually non-existent. There were 36,000 main lines and 10,000 cellular phones in use in 1995. There are only about 0.7 telephones for every 1,000 Congolese. Even the few telephones that exist are often inoperable because the telecommunications infrastructure is so poorly maintained. Cellular telephones, such as those provided by the American company TELECEL, are replacing wire-based telephone networks, and the numbers of cellular phones in use have risen dramatically in the last several years.

ECONOMIC SECTORS

In 1997 agriculture represented about 58 percent of the Congo's GDP. The country's primary cash crops include coffee, palm oil, rubber, cotton, sugar, tea, and cocoa. The Congo's primary food crops include rice, groundnuts, maize, plantains, and cassava. Two-thirds of the Congo's labor force works in the agricultural sector.

In 1997, the industrial sector represented approximately 17 percent of GDP and employed 16 percent of the workforce. Industrial diamonds alone account for 52 percent of exports. The Congo's abundant reserves of copper and cobalt present enormous potential to its economy. However, this potential has not been met because the Congo's mining companies have failed to keep up with general improvements in mining technology. Also, the war has had a great effect on production in the industrial sector. Services account for just 25 percent of the economy and employ 19 percent of the workers.

AGRICULTURE

The Congo's economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture. However, 99 percent of the Congo's land is not under cultivation. Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in the countryside and continues to cultivate individual tracts of land by traditional methods for personal consumption. Coffee, cocoa, sugar, palm oil products, rubber, tea, and quinquina are produced on plantations and by small farmers. Food crops include plantains, maize, cassava, groundnuts, and rice. The Congo's agricultural sector has declined since independence because the government has imposed low producer prices, encouraged the importation of cheap foodstuffs, implemented policies that hampered the access of credit to rural areas, and neglected the country's transportation and energy infrastructure. The Kabila governments promised, as part of their development policy, upgrades in rural roads and agricultural mechanization, so far without much success.

Although the Congo's agricultural sector is full of promise, the Congo still remains dependent on imports, despite having been a net exporter prior to its independence. In the 1980s, the Congo experienced a 2 percent growth in the agricultural sector. But since the early 1990s, the agricultural sector has been stagnant, experiencing zero or negative growth rates. Livestock production was decimated by fighting in 1996-97, and fish production on interior rivers has decreased dramatically. Finally, income from timber sales can hardly be considered part of the Congolese economy, as the timbered areas remain under rebel control in 2001.

INDUSTRY

MINING.

Since the colonial era, mining has been and continues to be the Congo's main source of exports and foreign exchange. The Katanga region of the Congo contains some of the world's richest deposits of copper and cobalt. The national copper mining company, GECAMINES, which had been struggling in the 1980s, collapsed in 1991 and has had little success in expanding production since then, thanks again to the wars of the late 1990s. Recovery in this sector will occur only if the Congo enjoys sustained political stability and the mines receive massive technological improvements.

As recently as the 1980s, the DRC was the world's fourth leading producer of industrial diamonds. It also has an abundant reserve of gem-quality diamonds. The Congo exports its diamonds mainly to Belgium, Israel, and India. Two-thirds of the Congo's industrial diamond production is realized through artisanal (skilled worker) diamond diggers. In the 1990s the state granted to one company, IDI Diamonds, a monopoly on the sales and export of diamonds. This move—meant to bring order to the diamond industry—in fact forced most diamond sales into the black market as artisanal diamond diggers sought the highest prices for their diamonds.

The Congo also produces gold. However, production has suffered as a result of both the current and previous wars. Currently, the Congo's main gold mines are in regions governed by rebel forces. Like industrial diamonds, gold production takes place mostly through artisanal panning and is not significant.

PETROLEUM.

Compared to other sub-Saharan African oil producers, the Congo produces very little crude oil. However, offshore oil fields remained one of the government's few stable sources of revenue in the 1990s. The country produces about 22,000 barrels per day of oil. U.S.-owned Chevron and Mobil dominate the Congo's crude oil sector. SOCIR, the national refinery, is unable to process the country's crude oil so it must be processed externally, limiting the economic benefits of this natural resource.

MANUFACTURING.

The Congo's primary manufacturing regions are Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, and they produce batteries, tires, shoes, food products, plastics, beverages, autos, textiles, and other consumer goods. Agricultural processing is one of the few relatively healthy industries, thanks to its ability to benefit from the mass of Congolese who are involved with agriculture. Although the Congo's locally-produced goods are far more expensive than imports, local manufacturers have been able to withstand import competition ironically because of the Congo's poor transportation system.

SERVICES

The service sector represents one-fourth of GDP and employs 19 percent of the labor force. The primary services are banking, communications, government, and transportation, yet each of these subsectors are plagued by inefficiency, corruption, and the stresses from war. The public health and education systems are, in the words of the U.S. Department of State, "defunct" and most health and education services are now provided by international aid agencies. Transportation services are rudimentary and inefficient. The state-run transport firm Office National des Transports (ONATRA) has a difficult time competing with private transporters, the majority of whose activities go unreported in economic statistics. Tourism in the past decade has been virtually non-existent.

Congo's banking system includes the central bank, Banque Central du Congo, 10 commercial banks, and a development bank, as well as a variety of smaller financial institutions. In the 1990s, however, most of these banks were insolvent, their assets demolished by runaway inflation, massive defaults on loans, and the government's misuse of central bank funds. Most Congolese avoid formal banks and participate in a cash economy.

INTERNATIONAL TRADE

As with GDP, there is immense difficulty in determining accurate statistics for international trade for the Democratic Republic of Congo, thanks to the difficulty

of assessing the contributions of the informal economy. The CIA World Factbook reports exports of US$530 million and imports of US$460 million in 1998. The World Bank estimated 1999 exports of US__BODY__.94 billion and imports of US$549 million, comparable to the Banque National du Congo's most recent figures of US__BODY__.546 billion in exports and US$936 million in imports in 1995.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the country's primary export partners in 1998 were the Benelux countries (52 percent), the United States (14 percent), South Africa (9 percent), and Finland (4 percent). The Congo's primary import partners in the same year were South Africa (25 percent), Benelux (14 percent), Nigeria (7 percent), Kenya (5 percent), and China.

MONEY

The local currency in the Congo is the Congolese franc. The Congolese franc replaced the new zaire and was issued in 1997 for the first time. The official exchange rate, set by the Banque Central du Congo, was widely ignored as the value of the Congolese franc plummeted against every world currency. No foreign currency is available at the official exchange rate, so most foreign currency must be traded on the black market. The drop in the value of the currency has led to high inflation, which has been a chronic problem in the DRC. Inflation rates in the last decade were as high as 8,828 percent in 1993, dropping to 6 percent in 1997 before climbing again to 333 percent in 1999. Because wages have not kept up with inflation, most Congolese cannot afford many goods and resort to bartering to obtain basic necessities.

POVERTY AND WEALTH

Independence from Belgium, gained with little trouble in 1960, has had the unintended effect of increasing the gap between rich and poor in the Congo. The Congo lacks a middle class. The wealthy Congolese—usually tied to those in power by patronage—live in the city in

modern houses and apartment buildings and drive expensive cars. The urban poor, who make up the majority of the population, live in overcrowded slums lacking even the basics of life, such as running water and basic health care. Congolese who live in the rural parts of the country live in thatched huts and survive on subsistence agriculture. Though any estimates of income are questionable, it is estimated the per capita GDP is as low as US$100.

Since independence, the Congo has made efforts to provide its citizens with access to primary and secondary schooling. About 80 percent of the males and 65 percent of females aged 6 to 11 were enrolled in a mixture of state-and church-run primary schools in 1996. At higher levels of education, males greatly outnumber females. The country's elite continue to send their children abroad to be educated, primarily in Western Europe.

Taxes are very burdensome for Congolese, and rural dwellers are subjected to a variety of coercive measures by officials to extract payments, fines, and other financial penalties. The health care system, roads, and school system have virtually collapsed, and the government has focused its meager resources in the urban areas, leaving rural citizens with nothing but high taxes, low prices for their agricultural products, and much suffering.

WORKING CONDITIONS

The DRC has a sizable labor force of some 14.51 million workers, but working conditions for the average Congolese are abysmal. Most Congolese work in the agricultural sector. The average income of a Congolese worker does not provide a sufficient income to sustain a family. In fact, most Congolese earn less than $40 a month. Most workers supplement their income by doing odd jobs besides their usual work and depend heavily on the assistance of their extended families. The government has established minimum wage scales for workers, but wages have not kept pace with inflation, making such wage scales nearly meaningless.

The country created the 1967 Labor Code to provide guidelines for labor practices, including the employment of women and children, anti-discrimination laws, and restrictions on working conditions. The collapse of the economy and the corruption in the government have destroyed the enforcement of most such laws. Several of the limited number of larger employers, however, pay for benefits for their employees and may even provide roads, schools, and hospitals for the local community.

The employment of children of all ages is not uncommon in the informal sector and in subsistence agriculture, which are dominant portions of the economy. Such employment is often the only way a child or family can obtain money for food. Neither the Ministry of Labor, which is responsible for enforcement, nor the labor unions make an effort to enforce child labor laws.

COUNTRY HISTORY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

1885. The Congo is colonized as a personal fiefdom of Belgian King Leopold II and is called the Congo Free State.

1907. The administration of the Congo Free State is transferred to the Belgian government, which renames the country the Belgian Congo.

1960. The Congo gains independence from Belgium. Shortly after, the army mutinies and the Katanga province secedes. The United Nations sends troops to protect Europeans and maintain order. Joseph Desire Mobutu, the army's chief of staff, intervenes militarily to resolve a power struggle between President Joseph Kasavubu and Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Mobutu has Lumumba arrested.

1961. Mobutu returns power to President Kasavubu. Lumumba is handed over to Katanga rebels and soon murdered.

1964. The country is renamed the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

1965. Mobutu stages a military coup amid a political crisis, appointing himself president for 5 years and canceling scheduled elections.

1970. Mobutu establishes his Popular Movement of the Revolution as the sole political party and all Congolese are forced to join the party. Mobutu is also reelected as president in a one-candidate election.

1971. Mobutu begins reform under his "Zairianization" policy. Under this policy he changes the country's name to the Republic of Zaire, and Zairians are forced to use their African names (as opposed to their Christian names) and adopt African dress.

1973. Under "Zairianization," the government appropriates over 2,000 foreign-owned businesses. These businesses are mostly distributed to Mobutu and his associates.

1977. Former Katangan secessionists invade Katanga from Angola, where they had been living in exile. Mobutu suppresses the rebellion with the help of Moroccan troops and military assistance from his Western allies.

1982. Dissidents of Mobutu's one-party rule form the Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS). UDPS leaders are harassed and imprisoned.

1990. Mobutu announces the creation of a multiparty democratic system. However, a national multiparty conference to draft a new constitution is suspended. The United States, which had supplied Mobutu with hundreds of millions of dollars annually, ends direct military and economic aid because of corruption and human rights abuses by the Mobutu regime.

1991. As a result of mounting domestic and international pressure, Mobutu agrees to form a coalition government with UDPS leader Etienne Tshisekedi.

1992. The multiparty constitutional conference resumes amid squabbling and continued unrest. Conference members name Tshisekedi as Prime Minister to head a transitional government. Later, the Conference adopts a draft constitution to incorporate a bicameral parliament and a system of universal suffrage to elect a president.

1994. Rwandan ethnic Hutus massacre over 500,000 Rwandan ethnic Tutsis. Shortly thereafter, an outside Tutsi rebel force takes over Rwanda. Fearing retribution, over 1.3 million Rwandan Hutus flee into eastern Zaire. Accompanying these refugees are many of the Hutus responsible for the Tutsi massacre.

1996. Zairian Tutsi in eastern Zaire revolt because they are threatened with expulsion by Hutus. Uganda and Rwanda seize upon this revolt to secure their borders from the Hutus responsible for the massacre and select veteran guerrilla fighter Laurent Kabila to invade eastern Zaire. Hundreds of thousands of Hutu refugees return to Rwanda.

1997. Kabila's army, composed mostly of Rwandans and Ugandans, takes Kinshasa, and Mobutu flees into exile. Kabila appoints himself as president and changes the country's name back to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

1998. Kabila kicks out his Rwandan supporters, which sparks a war supported by Rwanda and Uganda against him. Rebel activity unofficially divides the Congo into 3 regions.

1999. The Lusaka Peace Accord is signed by Kabila and representatives of Rwanda and Uganda. Pursuant to the Accord, the parties agree to a cease-fire, the installation of U.N. peacekeeping troops in the Congo, and a "national dialogue" to chart the country's future. All parties continue to violate the Accord.

2001. President Laurent Kabila is assassinated by one of his bodyguards. His son, Major General Joseph Kabila, is appointed as interim president. Rwanda and Uganda begin removing their troops and the U.N. sends peacekeeping forces.

FUTURE TRENDS

The outbreak of war in August 1998 caused the collapse of the Congo's already frail economy. Since the outbreak of war, the country has been divided into Rwandan/Ugandan rebel-governed areas, and areas controlled by the government. Commerce between these regions has ceased and the Congo's economy has suffered even more.

As a result of this war, the Congolese government's revenues went from bad to dismal. Customs revenues have declined because the flow of imports has dried up. Tax revenues have also substantially declined because of the fall in business activity. Further compounding the problem is the fact that unpaid government bills owed to private businesses have increased to the point that some businesses have been forced to close.

On January 16, 2001, President Laurent Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards. Ten days later Major General Joseph Kabila was appointed as interim president. At the inception of his presidency, Joseph Kabila has demonstrated a sincere interest in re-establishing peace in the Congo. Thus far, he has revived the Lusaka Peace Accord, and both Rwanda and Uganda have begun removing their troops from the Congo. Additionally, the U.N. began sending peacekeeping troops to the Congo. There are also signs that Joseph Kabila will adopt a less hard-line approach to governing the Congo than his father. He has already replaced his father's hard-line cabinet with appointees with a more liberal outlook on governance. Joseph Kabila has also engaged in extensive travel to meet heads of state of many of the Western nations to reintegrate the Congo into the international community. It remains to be seen how he intends to reinvigorate the Congo's decrepit economic state.

DEPENDENCIES

The Congo has no territories or colonies.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Economist Intelligence Unit. Country Profile: Democratic Republic of Congo. London: Economist Intelligence Unit, 2001.

Leslie, Winsome J. Zaire: Continuity and Political Change in an Oppressive State. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1993.

"Making a Mint From the Zaire Shambles." Electronic Mail and Guardian (Johannesburg, South Africa). <http://www.mg.co.za/mg/news/97apr2/21apr-zaire.html>. Accessed July 2001.

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook 2000. <http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/factbook/index.html>. Accessed July 2001.

U.S. Department of State, Bureau of African Affairs. Background Notes: Democratic Republic of the Congo. <http://www.state.gov/r/pa/bgn/index.cfm?docid=2823>. Accessed April 2001.

U.S. Department of State. 1999 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Democratic Republic of the Congo. <http://www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/congodr.html>. Accessed April 2001.

U.S. Department of State. FY 2001 Country Commercial Guide: Democratic Republic of the Congo. <http://www.state.gov/www/about_state/business/com_guides/2001/africa/index.html>. Accessed April 2001.

—Michael David Nicoleau

Raynette Rose Gutrick

CAPITAL:

Kinshasa.

MONETARY UNIT:

Congolese franc (FC). One Congolese franc equals 100 makuta. Due to the unstable nature of the currency it is impossible to predict which notes and coins are available in the country.

CHIEF EXPORTS:

Diamonds, copper, coffee, cobalt, crude oil.

CHIEF IMPORTS:

Foodstuffs, mining and other machinery, transport equipment, fuels.

GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT:

US$35.7 billion (purchasing power parity, 1999 est.). [Because most economic activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo is in the informal sector and difficult to track, different world agencies provide very different estimates of GDP. For example, the World Bank listed GDP in 1998 as US$7.0 billion, while the International Monetary Fund listed GDP as US$34.9 billion in the same year.]

BALANCE OF TRADE:

Exports: US$530 million (f.o.b., 1998 est.). Imports: US$460 million (f.o.b., 1998 est.).