democratic republic of congo case study

state the level of development of the DRC

LIDC

state the location of the DRC

Central Africa

describe the history of the DRC

• previous Belgian colony struggling with life after independence

• blessed with physical resources

  • currently seems unable to convert this into economic progress

• it has a rapidly increasing population

describe the influence of coastline access on the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • DRC is not landlocked

  • its chief port of Matadi allows access to global sea lanes and global trade, stimulating development

• NEGATIVE

  • DRC has a small coastline with few ports

  • shape of DRC means it is still expensive and time consuming to get goods in/out of the country

describe the influence of neighbours on the DRC

• NEGATIVE

  • politically-volatile neighbours means the DRC gets swept into their conflicts

    • e.g. hosted Rwandan refugees after Rwanadan genocide - costly

  • neighbours are LIDCs with small purchasing power - limited trade opportunities

  • conflict can be created with the neighbouring countries

    • Rwanda and Uganda fought war with DRC for resources

describe the climate on the DRC

• on equator

• in between Hadley Cells

• climate is hot and wet (tropical and equatorial)

describe the influence of high rainfall on the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • high rainfall allows for good HEP potential

  • rain allows for the possibility of double cropping

    • this is good for food security and exports

  • most agriculture is rain-fed

    • 18% of the DRC’s GDP comes from agriculture

    • 70% of the DRC’s population is employed in agriculture

• NEGATIVE

  • high rainfall can cause intense flooding - this can lower crop yields, erode fertile soils and increase food insecurity

    • e.g. 2018 - heavy rains caused severe flooding, landslides and silting in 9 communities in Kinshasa, affecting more than 15,700 people and taking 51 lives

describe the influence of varied rainfall on the DRC

• rainfall is varied seasonally as ITCZ moves north/south in the year

• NEGATIVE

  • water quantity and quality is very low in some parts of the year, leading to healthcare issues

  • dry then wet leads to flash flooding, causing damage to infrastructure

describe the influence of high temperatures on the DRC

• leads to the spread of vector and water borne diseases (e.g. malaria)

  • 300,000 children under 5 are killed every year due to malaria

describe the influence of landscape on the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • tropical rainforests

    • useful for timber exports and tourism (e.g. gorillas in the VNP)

    • difficult for illegal loggers or invaders to move around

  • Congo River Basin

    • world’s second largest drainage basin in the world

    • good for trade

  • mountain ranges

    • difficult for invaders to cross

    • attractive locations for tourist to visit - can stimulate positive multiplier effects

• NEGATIVE

  • Congo River Basin

    • has lots of waterfall

    • isn’t navigable

  • mountain ranges

    • hard to build on

describe the influence of the location natural resources on the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • resource-rich - most resources are in the east

• NEGATIVE

  • the eastern parts of the DRC are a long way from the port - time and energy inefficient to transport resources to the port

  • resources are close to neighbouring countries whose terror groups raids DRC resources

describe the influence of natural resources on the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • DRC contains diamond, cobalt and copper

    • these resources are good for export currency

  • DRC has one the largest forest reserves in Africa

    • the forest contains half of the HEP potential of the continent

    • the forest contains rich soils (fertile alluvium and fertile ash from volcanoes), groundwater and springs (drinking water)

• NEGATIVE

  • DRC’s resources may also be a resource curse

state the date of the DRC’s independence

1960

describe the benefits of the Belgian colonisation of the DRC

some transport and mining infrastructure was built

describe the negatives of the Belgian colonisation of the DRC

• resources were extracted and exported to Belgium (huge rubber plantations)

• created conflict between Congolese and Belgian populations - ~10 million died under Belgian rule

• there was a poorly organised independence handover which led to Dictator Mobutu’s rule

• there were lots of economic leakages during the colonisation (money was leaving the DRC to be sent to Belgium)

describe the current political issues in the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • 2019 - DRC held the first set of ‘fair’ elections (heading out of dictatorship)

• NEGATIVE

  • corruption is rife

  • violence has caused lots of problems

  • clientalism (exchange of goods and services for political support) and bribery means money is siphoned off

describe the DRC’s biggest imports

• food, transport, equipment and machinery

• from the EU, South Africa, and China

• brings in things the DRC can’t grow/make itself due to limited funds

  • DRC is dependent on others due to limited technology

describe the DRC’s biggest exports

• 85% of exports from mining

  • cobalt, copper, diamonds, gold, petrol

• to the EU, China and the Middle East

• exports generate revenue which triggers the multiplier effect

describe the importance of trade to the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • mining revenue is hugely important for economy

• NEGATIVE

  • but over-reliance on mining (narrow economic base) means the DRC is susceptible to changes in global markets and external stocks

  • trade within Africa is small

state the total international investment into the DRC per year

$2 billion per year

describe the influence of China on international investment in the DRC

• China have bought leases for natural resources

  • POSITIVE

    • China has built infrastructure in the DRC - farms, 80,000 person stadium, a hospital

    • China has agreed to drop DRC’s $30 million

  • NEGATIVE

    • this has undermined the DRC’s sovereignty

    • China has bought influence in the DRC and now the DRC ‘owes’ China

describe the influence of Belgium on international investment in the DRC

• POSITIVE

  • put in a place a sufficient schooling system

• NEGATIVE

  • economically-oppressed the DRC for years whilst taking its resources

describe the influence of the USA on international investment in the DRC

USA has been training the DRC military in an attempt to have influence in the DRC

state the population number of the DRC

100 million+

describe the DRC’s population pyramid

• bottom heavy - lots of children and low life expectancies compared to global averages

  • 50% aged 0-18

  • POSITIVE

    • in the future, when the younger dependent generations become older, the DRC will have a larger economically-active populations

  • NEGATIVE

    • children needs to be supported in school systems

describe employment in the DRC

• majority of population work in primary industries (90% in mining and agriculture)

• narrow economic base means the DRC is more susceptible to external shocks

describe the literacy rate in the DRC

• 80% (but this is subject to big gender inequalities) - global average is 86%

• 70% of children finish primary school - huge improvement as it was 30% 20 years ago

describe education in the DRC

• before independence, only 3/5000 government jobs were held by the Congolese

• before independence, there was not a single Congolese lawyer, doctor or engineer

• now, investment in education is increasing

describe the healthcare provisions in the DRC

• 0.3 doctors per 1,000 people (3 per 1,000 in the UK)

• DRC spends $20 per person per year on healthcare (UK average = $4000)

• there is much better medical facilities in urban areas such as Kinshasa

• remote villages have little to no healthcare provisions

state the DRC’s life expectancy

60

state the number of internet users in the DRC

20%

describe banking in the DRC

• 20% is mobile banking

• 4% is traditional banking

describe access to the internet in the DRC

• internet access allows for efficient production/promotion of goods and services

  • this trade triggers a local multiplier effect

• access to communications tech and social media means journalists are more likely to uncover corruption

  • this makes it easier for those in power to be held accountable

describe inequalities in internet access in the DRC

• phones are still expensive and there is an inequality of internet access

  • this limits development of ‘poorer’ groups

• phone reception is better in urban areas, creating disparity in access between urban and rural areas

  • this furthers the push factor of rural to urban migration into overcrowded cities

• as an LIDC, the DRC doesn’t have the resources to make mobile phones, increasing import reliance

describe the influence of global internet access on coltan

• increase in worldwide demand for phones

• coltan is used to make phone screens

state the name of the one aid project that works in the DRC

Medecins San Frontieres

state the dates the MSF has been working in the DRC

• 1981

• DRC is the MSF’s biggest project

state the MSF annual consultations in the DRC annually

• 2 million consultations per year

• 1 million treated for malaria

describe the benefits of the MSF on the DRC’s development

• healthy children are able to go to school and receive a better education

• healthy adults are productive parts of the workforce

• healthy adults can bring home money to families (no illness benefits in DRC)

describe the negatives of the MSF on the DRC’s development

• the aid can increase dependency

• the aid undermines the DRC’s sovereignty as the government is relying on NGOs to ‘do their job’

state the DRC’s stage in Rostow’s stages of economic growth

• stage 2

• as it has the preconditions for economic take off

describe evidence of the DRC being in stage 1 of Rostow’s stages of economic growth

• % of internet users is low (20%)

• employment is agriculture based (>80%) - causes a narrow economic base

• poor infrastructure (transport, electricity)

describe evidence of the DRC being in stage 2 of Rostow’s stages of economic growth

• DRC is heavily dependent on mining sector (25% of GDP and 85% of export revenue)

• communication developing - 22 million mobile users

• manufacturing sector only 10% of GDP