Democratic Republic of the Congo

H

Transportation

Roads in the DRC are in generally poor repair, hindering the transport of crops to markets and contributing to the decline of export agriculture. The total length of the national road system is about 157,000 km (about 97,555 mi). The country’s 3,641 km (2,262 mi) of aging railways provide important connections domestically as well as with the Angolan port of Benguela and with southern Africa. Inland waterways are used extensively. The Congo River is navigable from its mouth to Matadi, a distance of 134 km (83 mi). The river is unnavigable from Matadi to Kinshasa, which are linked by a railway 401 km (249 mi) long. Beyond Kinshasa navigation is possible for more than 1,600 km (1,000 mi) until Stanley Falls impedes navigation at Kisangani. The unnavigable portions of the Congo require exports from the southeast region of Katanga to be sent through other countries. Navigable inland waterways total about 14,500 km (about 9,000 mi). For most Congolese, the chief modes of river transportation remain aging river steamers and long canoes, known as pirogues. The principal seaports are Matadi and Boma, on the lower Congo River, and Banana, at the river’s mouth. The country has international airports at Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, Kisangani, Goma, and Bukavu. State-owned Congo Airlines provides domestic and international service.

I

Communications

The DRC’s wired telephone system is almost nonexistent, so most people use mobile telephones. The country depends heavily on air and telegraph services for internal communication. A government-controlled national broadcasting system, based in Kinshasa, operates several national radio stations and one national television station. Broadcasts are in French and numerous African languages. Several private radio and television stations are also located in Kinshasa. Daily newspapers are published in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi, and Kisangani.

J

Foreign Trade

The DRC’s principal exports include diamonds, crude petroleum, cobalt, copper, and coffee. Exports in 2000 totaled $580 million, and imports totaled $396 million. The principal trading partners for exports were Belgium and Luxembourg (which constitute a single trading entity), the United States, Zimbabwe, Finland, and Italy. For imports, principal partners were South Africa, Belgium and Luxembourg, Nigeria, France, and Kenya. The DRC is a signatory of the Lomé Convention, a trade and aid agreement between the European Union and African, Caribbean, and Pacific nations.

K

Currency and Banking

The unit of currency in the DRC is the Congolese franc, consisting of 100 centimes (473.90 Congolese francs equal US$1; 2005 average). The Congolese franc was issued in mid-1998, replacing the new zaire. The government controls the currency’s rate of exchange. The Bank of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (1964) is the national bank. A number of domestic banks and branches of foreign banks also function.

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VI

Government

After the Congo received its independence from Belgium in 1960, it experienced five years of political turmoil. In 1965 army chief of staff Joseph Désiré Mobutu (later Mobutu Sese Seko) seized power in a coup. For 32 years Mobutu ran a corrupt, undemocratic regime, concentrating power in the executive branch and favoring those loyal to him. His party, the Popular Movement for the Revolution (Mouvement Populaire de la Révolution, or MPR), became the sole legal political party, and dissidents were suppressed. After significant opposition to Mobutu’s one-party system, he initiated nominal political reforms in 1990. A national conference was convened to draft a new constitution, but Mobutu successfully blocked its progress.

In May 1997 rebels led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila seized control of the country and overthrew Mobutu. Kabila suspended the constitution, dissolved the country’s powerless legislature, and declared himself president. A constitutional commission drafted a new constitution in mid-1998, but it was never submitted to a national referendum due to the start of another civil war in eastern DRC. Despite promises of democratization and the establishment of a 300-member transitional legislative body in 2000, Kabila ruled by decree.

Kabila was assassinated in January 2001 by one of his bodyguards. Kabila’s administration named his son Joseph Kabila as the new president. After months of negotiations, in July 2003 Joseph Kabila established a power-sharing government, swearing in four new vice presidents and a new cabinet. Two of the new vice presidents were leaders of the two major rebel groups involved in the civil war, one was a member of the civilian political opposition, and one was allied with Kabila. The new cabinet posts were similarly shared out to different political groups.

In May 2005 the country’s transitional parliament adopted a new constitution, which was approved by referendum in December 2005. The new constitution went into effect in February 2006. It recognized as citizens all ethnic groups living in the DRC at the time of independence in 1960. Anyone 18 years or older is eligible to vote, and voting is compulsory.

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