Exploring DRC: Central Africa's Second-Largest Nation - Research Paper

Introduction

The Democratic Republic of Congo is a state found in Central Africa. The country is the second-largest nation in Africa behind Algeria. It has a small coastline to the Atlantic of 25 miles or 40km (Van, David & Sam 5). The republic's capital is Kinshasa, a city situated on the Congo River (Van et al. 6). Kinshasa is also the largest city in central Africa, and it works as the country's primary executive, economic, and national center. The state is also denoted by its abbreviation as the DRC, or only as Congo (Kinshasa), with the capital getting added to differentiate it from the neighboring Republic of the Congo that commonly gets identified as Congo Brazzaville (Van et al. 8).

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The DRC was colonized by Belgium and obtained its liberation in 1960 (Van et al. 5). The country was referred to as the Republic of Zaire from 1971 to 1997, an aspect enforced by President Gen. Mobutu Sese Seko (Van et al. 9). The change in name by the general was to offer the country a more authentic African title (Van et al. 11). The name Zaire meant the big river in the native dialect, an aspect that also gets reflected in its current name that refers to the Congo River (Van et al. 5). Belgium Congo's colonial masters employed imperialisms for economic gains (Van et al. 8). Congo had abundant resources that included ivory, rubber, and precious minerals that the Belgians looked to exploit, and thus build railroads to access parts of the country that could not be accessed by water (Van et al. 9). King Leopold II of Belgium greatly benefited from Imperialism in the Congo especially form the rubber trees that are utilized as the primary source of rubber for rubber bicycle and automotive wheels (Van et al. 5).

Political Situation

The modern-day president of the DRC is President Felix Tshisekedi, since 24 January 2019 (Berwouts & Filip 2). DRC's former government was led by Joseph Kabila, who took over as president after the slaying of father Laurent in 2001 (Berwouts & Filip 2). Kabila was later to get elected in 2006, while in 2011, he secured another term in office that was characteristically controversial (Berwouts & Filip 4). In 2016, President Kabila refused to leave office following the expiry of his elected term (Berwouts & Filip 4). The delayed elections would later get conducted in December 2018, with the results being termed as controversial (Berwouts & Filip 4). The election executives affirmed the opposition aspirant Felix Tshisekedi as the victor (Berwouts & Filip 2).

Following numerous opposition and controversy, the DRC announced a new coalition government, nearly seven months after the declaration of Felix Tshisekedi. The power-sharing agreement ensured the government had executives drawn from the ruling party and that of former president Joseph Kabila (Berwouts & Filip 7). The move foresaw three-quarters of the new administration serving in government for the first time (Berwouts & Filip 7). The former president's political party, the Common Front for Congo (FCC) coalition won a parliamentary majority (Berwouts & Filip 8). From the published results, the FCC won 342 of the 485 seats in the DRC's parliament (Berwouts & Filip 8). Following the results, both Kabila and Tshisekedi agreed to form a coalition government that would allow them to govern the country jointly (Berwouts & Filip 8).

Economic Situation

The country's foreign exchange has recovered since the turmoil of 2009 that had been caused by a fiscal crunch and a tumble in the nation's raw materials export fees (Gharib 1). Nonetheless, both exports and imports have been experiencing drifts upwards, with the overall volume of trade commodities from the DRC to the world continuously increasing (Gharib 2). The country has also adopted new exchange rate policies replacing those issued in 2003. It hopes better to regulate foreign exchange transactions (Gharib 4). DRC hoped to make transformations in the international financial environment. The country's mining sector has been playing a critical role in the country's economic growth. Copper and gold have been registered as the most improved sectors in the mining industry, contributing to DRC's economic growth (Gharib 4). The country now produces over 1million tons of copper and 23 tons of gold annually (Gharib 5). Minerals found in the DRC present the highest economic development potential for the nation. The state is a significant supplier of minerals such as copper, coltan, tin, and diamonds to the global markets (Gharib 6). The country's success lies in resolving conflicts over access to resources (Gharib 7).

Agriculture, energy, services sector, and manufacturing have also played a significant role in DRC's economic growth (African Development Bank). The vigorous reforms that have been taken by the government towards economic growth can get noticed in elements such as an increase in the volume of communication (African Development Bank). Lawful and jurisdictional security for industries has been supported via the creation of new commercial courts. It also gets supplemented by the effective implementation of the treaty on the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA Treaty) (African Development Bank). The tourism sector in the DRC is entirely open, and the state boasts of having a broad, vibrant, and a vast prospect in tourism. DRC's tourism potential is supported by its biodiversity, Country Parks, reserves, culture, topography, and other numerous tourist destination sites (African Development Bank). However, it is critical to note that the tourism sector has previously been adversely affected by the political crisis in the country. The tourism industry is currently booming and presenting one of DRC's most hopeful investment and growth sections of the near future (African Development Bank). Tourism in the DRC can be improved by investing in communication technologies in the country such as internet connectivity since foreign tourists like keeping in touch with their relatives and friends from their home countries (African Development Bank). The ministry of tourism in the country should also consider employing professional ranger guides and equip them to protect the tourists against any adversities. The national government should consider reducing the cost of visas to encourage more visitors (African Development Bank).

Key Macroeconomic Variables

According to the DRC's World Bank report, there was an acceleration of economic growth by 5.8% in 2018. However, in 2019 is economic growth slowed to 4.3% owing to the falling prices in the country's major export products (Otchia 273). As per economic projects, the real GDP grew with an estimated 4.0% in 2019 following continued improvements in agriculture, construction, and the service sector in the DRC (Otchia 273). The service sector has accounted for most of the developments in the DRC, with about 70% growth following strong performances in wholesale, retail trade, hotels, and restaurants that benefited from developments in tourism (Otchia 274). There has been a higher public investment that has fostered growth, accounting for about 12% of growth in GDP (Otchia 274). Inflation levels also registered increments by 5.7% owing to higher fossil fuel prices (Otchia 274). Despite the inflation, the GDP is still projected to accelerate to 4.5% and 5.1 by 2021 (Otchia 274)

Government spending amounts to 12.4% of the republic's GDP, while budget shortfalls average 1.0%, the national debt is equal to 15.7% of the GDP (Otchia 276). In 2018, the rate of unemployment was at 4.2%, although it has kept fluctuating over the years (Otchia 276). Despite the constitution protecting the ownership of private property, there was a lack of enforcement, an aspect that prompted armed groups and government soldiers to seizing or destroying private property in conflict zones. DRC's legal system is weak, unreliable, and corrupt; it negatively impacts the nationwide economic development efforts by the government (Otchia 285).

Justice/Judiciary System

The DRC is a public law nation, and its legal scheme is principally founded on Belgium law (Rubbers & Emili 254). As such, the overall features of the DRC legal structure are identical to those in the Belgian legal system. DRC borrowed the legal system from their Belgian colonial masters. Customary and tribal laws are also part of the foundation of the legal structure of the DRC (Rubbers & Emili 254). In DRC, Customary and tribal laws are mostly applicable to individuals living in rural areas (Rubbers & Emili 255). The customary law regulates both individual positions such as marriage, separation laws, and property privileges such as heirloom and land tenure laws (Rubbers & Emili 255). The legal system in Congo can be broken down into three divisions, which are community law, private law, and trade or industry law (Rubbers & Emili 256). Private laws regulate interactions among private people (Rubbers & Emili, 256). Trade or industry law focuses on relations in employment, Commerce, mining, and investment (Rubbers & Emili 257).

The DRC court system is in transition. In line with the existing court system, the Supreme Court is the uppermost in the DRC. The Supreme Court holds three sections, which include organizational, legislation, and judiciary (Rubbers & Emili 260). Second is the state security court, which has the authority to hear and rule in matters pertaining to the safety of the nation. Thirdly, is the court of appeal, which has two sections; the managerial and judiciary (Rubbers & Emili 260). Fourth is the tribunal de Grande Instance, which is a court with broad dominion, and it is connected to the department of public persecution (Rubbers & Emili 260). Fifth, the country has the magistrate courts, which are courts bearing the authority to conduct inquiries since they are not linked to the subdivision of public persecution (Rubbers & Emili 260). At the bottom of the judicial system are the traditional elders; however, they are not part of the official legal system, but they are part of the crucial aspects of arbitration and payment of disagreements in the local customary societies (Rubbers & Emili 263).

Environment Concerns

According to the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP), the most significant environmental problem in the DRC are deforestation, the ever-increasing urban population (Abernethy, Maisels & Lee 4). Forests in the DRC are threatened by fires set to claim land for cultivation. Forests in the DRC are also used as a source of fuel; there is easy access to forests; thus, they suffer overexploitation (Abernethy et al. 7). Deforestation in the country is proceeding at an alarming rate that it is feared to lead to climatic changes. The government and non-governmental environmentalists have been relentless to conserve forests, including guarding the protected areas as well as wetlands, ensuring they can protect against the adverse effects of global warming. Changes resulting from environmental effects are likely to cause droughts and eventual food shortages.

The urban centers in the DRC are characterized by air pollution mostly from vehicle emissions, while water pollution is from the inadequate sewage system in the cities (Abernethy et al. 10). The rural areas also suffer a water purity problem, with only 51% of the persons in the countryside being in a position to access safe drinking water (Abernethy et al. 15). Hunting in the DRC has led to the endangerment of over 200 species of mammals and over 400 species of birds (Abernethy et al. 20). There is also extensive land degradation with the main issue associated with the degradation being so...