Resource information
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
is the third most populous county in Sub Saharan Africa and
has many natural advantages that would enable it to
experience rapid sustained economic growth and rapid poverty
alleviation. These include rich and diverse natural
resources, such as mining and hydroelectric potential,
abundant fertile land, and a large domestic market. The
country is emerging from conflict and democratic election,
and benefits from significant external capital inflows from
export of commodities with surging prices and donor aid, as
well as debt relief. Starting from a low base (with GDP
per-capita in 2006 about 1/3 of where it was in 1980) an
economic rebound would also be expected, and indeed is
happening: current GDP growth is hovering around 6 percent.
Nevertheless, this level of performance is insufficient to
address poverty, with the Millennium Development Goals being
mostly out of reach. Growth needs to be accelerated, shared
better and sustained over the years to come. While certain
countries have been unable to respond to such challenges,
others, including Uganda in the 1990s and Mozambique now,
have registered impressive results. DRC can also engage on
a similar path. In order for sustained shared growth to be
realized and for investments to materialize, Government
needs to quickly implement a number of regulatory and policy
reforms and to develop a more predictable policy
environment. It also needs to make sure that all private
sector entrepreneurs, not just those in certain sectors
benefit from an enabling environment conducive to their activities.
