Congo, Democratic

After being made a sovereign state in 1960, Col. Joseph MOBUTU took over the country in 1965, changed its name to Zaire, his own to MOBUTU Sese Seko, and proceeded to stay in power for 32 years by rigging elections and using force. In 1997, Laurent KABILA overthrew the MOBUTU regime and changed the country’s name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); by 1998 his rule was questioned by an uprising. In 2001, KABILA was killed and his son took over, who successfully reached a deal to get the Rwandans out of eastern Congo. The Pretoria Accord was also signed by disputing countries in order to stop fighting and create a united state. KABILA’s son, Joseph KABILA, is still in power today.

Main Airports

Kinshasa (N’Djili) (FIH)

U.S. Embassy

310 Avenue des Aviateurs, Kinshasa
tel. 243-81-2255872

Statistics

GDP: purchasing power parity:

$40.67 billion (2005 est.)

GDP - real growth rate:

6.5% (2005 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity:

700 (2005 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices):

9% (2004 est.)

Labor force:

NA

Exports:

$1.108 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - partners:

Belgium 38.3%, US 17.9%, China 11.7%, France 8%, Finland 7.8%, Chile 4.3% (2005)

Imports:

$1.319 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - partners:

South Africa 16.5%, Belgium 16.1%, France 9.1%, Zambia 8.5%, Kenya 5.7%, Germany 4.6%, US 4.5%, Cote d'Ivoire 4.3%, Netherlands 4.1% (2005)

Population:

62,660,551 (July 2006 est.)

Population growth rate:

3.07% (2006 est.)

Population Below Poverty Line:

NA

Major Industries:

mining (diamonds, gold, copper, cobalt, coltan zinc), mineral processing, consumer products (including textiles, footwear, cigarettes, processed foods and beverages), cement, commercial ship repair

Employing Workers: 170*

Registering Property: 141*

Enforcing Contracts: 171*

Closing a Business: 145*

*2006 World Bank rank out of 175 countries

Starting a Business

The table below shows the number of steps and the amount of time needed to start a business, on average

Indicator	Congo, Democratic	Region
Procedures (number)	13	11.1
Time (days)	155	61.8

Congo, Democratic Risk Assessment

Country Rating

Rating: D

A high-risk political and economic situation and an often very difficult business environment can have a very significant impact on corporate payment behaviour. Corporate default probability is very high.

Risk Assessment

After posting respectable performance from 2001 to 2005, the country's economic situation deteriorated after the suspension of IMF backing in the 2006 and 2007 pre-election and post-election periods. The mineral extraction sector should be the main growth driver in 2008, with an increase in foreign investment, while financial backers will likely focus their aid on road and rail infrastructure.

To foster sustainable growth and reduce poverty, improving the security, health, and education situation will be crucial along with combating corruption and the illegal exploitation of natural resources, privatising state-owned companies, and significantly improving the business environment. Three decades of lax economic management have resulted in unsustainable foreign debt and a large stock of arrears with Paris Club creditors. The main objective of President Joseph Kabila's administration thus entails reaching by mid-2008 the HIPC programme completion point in order to obtain foreign debt relief in a the HIPC bilateral framework and the MDRI multilateral framework. That will notably require better public finance management. The Democratic Republic of Congo will benefit concurrently from five billion dollars in loans from China, allocated to rail, road, and mining infrastructure, but that could jeopardise the sustainability of even the reduced debt remaining after the cancellations granted.

The security situation is moreover still critical in Kivus the eastern region bordering on Rwanda and Burundi, scene of several intertwined conflicts.

• Agriculture
• Apparel
• Arts & Crafts
• Automobile
• Bags, Cases & Boxes
• Chemicals
• Computer Hardware & Software
• Construction & Real Estate
• Consumer Electronics
• Electrical & Electronics
• Energy & Environment
• Food & Beverage
• Furniture & Furnishing
• Health & Medicine
• Home Supplies
• Industrial Supplies
• Lights & Lighting
• Machinery
• Mineral & Materials
• Office Supplies
• Security & Protection
• Service
• Sports & Entertainment
• Telecommunications
• Textile
• Toys
• Transportation