ABOUT THIS COUNTRY
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), formerly known as the Republic of Zaire, is geographically the largest state in Southern and Central Africa. It is situated at the heart of Africa, and lies on the Equator, covering an area of 2,345,095 km². The DRC has 37 kilometres of coastline and a geography characterised by a vast central basin low-lying plateau rising to volcanoes and mountains in the east. More than half the country is covered by dense tropical rainforest. The country is traversed by numerous rivers with the Congo River being the largest.
The DRC’s economy is primarily based on the mining sector. It has abundant mineral resources including copper, cobalt, cadmium, petroleum, industrial and gem diamonds, gold, silver, zinc, manganese, tin, germanium, uranium, radium, bauxite, iron ore and coal as well as timber, and vast hydropower potential. The DRC is potentially one of the richest mining countries in Africa. The country was the world’s fourth largest producer of industrial diamonds during the 1980s, and diamonds continue to dominate exports, accounting for nearly half of exports (US$828 million) in 2004. The oil industry, mainly from offshore fields, is another important contributor to the DRC’s economy. Agriculture is the mainstay of the DRC economy, accounting for 42.5 % of GDP in 2004, with the main cash crops consisting of coffee, palm oil, rubber, cotton, sugar, tea and cocoa.
Reasons to invest in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC):
- The DRC is the fourth most populous country in Africa with a small but growing middle class.
- The DRC is considered to be one of the richest countries on the continent in terms of natural resources, serving as the largest producer of cobalt globally and holding substantial mineral deposits of copper, zinc, coal, gold and uranium, among others. In addition, the DRC is home to the Congo
- It has the second-largest on the continent – which boasts major hydroelectric potential estimated to reach up to 100,000MW, close to one-third of Africa’s total hydroelectric potential.
- home to abundant reserves of cobalt which falls within the battery metals group.
Agriculture and Fishing
Tourism
Mining
Agriculture and Fishing
- 80 million ha of arable land and 4 million ha of irrigable lands (only 10% is currently exploited)
- Vast area of pasture for raising more than 40 million large heads of livestock.
- A fish potential of 700000 tons per year
- A varied climate and abundant rainfall (1000mm per year)
- Large reserves of fresh water
- Low labour costs, often favourable climactic conditions mean that investing in DRC farming opportunities can be rewarding
Investment Opportunities
- Development of poultry; pork and beef production industries
- Development of fishing industry; fish farming. Processing and preservation
- Development of perennial crops industries; coffee, cocoa, tea, cinchona, hevea, sugar and palm oil
- Development of food crops industries: maize, cassava, rice and soya
Tourism
- 12% of the territory established as protected areas.
- 7 national parks and 57 reservations areas
- Many touristic sites available for development
- Presence of four very exotic species; Mountain Gorilla, Okapi, Bonobo and Congolese Paeacock
- Ecosystem varieties covering almost 145 million ha
Investment Opportunities
- Rehabilitation and construction of hotels, restaurants, protected areas and other touristic infrastructure.
- Design new touristic sites
- Modernization and upgrade of national parks and joint management opportunity
- Construction of hotels in the Virugna park and a tourist site
- Creation of marina, lakeside transportation and hiking
- Setting up of a cable car in the Virunga mountains and in the volcanic site with accommodation and catering
- Creation of seaside resorts with beaches, shoreline access camping equipment
Mining
- The mining sector is already the mainstay of the economy, the DRC presents an unrivalled opportunity on the African continent.
- The DRC’s enormous mining wealth attracts top mining companies from around the world. The boom in demand for electric car batteries and electronics has multiplied the demand for cobalt and coltan
- The government of DRC is focusing in the revival of the mining production in order to support economic growth and employment
Potential resources
- Copper-cobalt-Zinc industry
- Diamond industry
- Chromium-Nickel industry
- Tin Industry
- Auriferous: current mineral resources estimated at around 750 tons of Gold
- Bauxite and phosphate industry
- Iron and manganese industry
Investment Opportunities
- Setting up of processing units of the transformation of mining products
- Setting up of diamond hewing, gold refinery and of smelting ores of tin accompanying
- Existence of geological research zones for exploration works and development of deposits and convincing indices of cassiterites, wolfram, coltan, gold, diamond, copper
- Installation of capable manufacturing industries
Infrastructure
Energy
Banking and Finance
Infrastructure
- Infrastructure, including support for extractive industries and civil engineering projects, is required on a national scale to link and uplift projects and populations, and bridge international frontiers.
- Modernise railroad infrastructure and the airport equipment of safety and security
- Maintain, lay out and tag the water ways in the country
Investment Opportunities
- A road network of 145 000km, with only 3000km covered roads
- A 5053 km rail road network to rehabilitate completely
- A maritime. River and Lake network of 16 238km to tag, dredge and exploit
- 270 airport platforms to reconstruct
- 2 maritime international ports to modernise
- Construction and rehabilitation of interconnection roads of economic pools
- Construction of railroads including the Banana-Matadi-Kinshasa-IIebo railroads
- The modernisation and equipment of the maritime ports of Matadi and Boma
Energy
- The DRC is estimated to hold around 20 billion barrels of undiscovered oil. Natural gas, when discovered and developed, could power the emerging economy as it has done in numerous African countries over the last decade.
Investment opportunities
- Construction of hydroelectric dams
- Certification of oil and gas reserves
- Prospection and exploration of sedimentary basins
- Exploitation of Lake Kivu methane gas
- Production of road bitumen in Kongo Central province
Banking and Finance
- Creation of specialised financial institutions and operational universalisation of existing banks
Investment Opportunities
- Creation of business specialised banks; development bank, settlement bank, farming bank etc
- Creation of a structured financial market
- Creation of micro finance institutions in the countryside, where more than 70% of the population who are excluded from the formal banking system live.
- Creation of private insurance, reinsurance, health insurance and insurance brokerage firms
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