DR. Congo Facts

On the margins of its sixtieth anniversary of national sovereignty, after more than fifty years of colonization, the second largest country on the African continent became independent in 1960. Since then, foreign investors have never ceased to return to the Democratic Republic of the Congo thanks to the efforts made by its leaders in terms of improving the business climate, the immensity of its potential and its various investment opportunities. The DR Congo attracts entrepreneurs from the four corners of the world.

OFFICIAL NAME	DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO, DRC IN INITIALS
Political system	Semi-presidential
Form of State	Unitary and highly decentralized
Geographical position	2 345 410 km² (2nd largest country in Africa) including 37 km on the Atlantic Ocean coast. Country in the heart of Africa located on the Equator. Common borders 9,165 km – surrounded by 9 neighboring countries: Central African Republic, South Sudan, Angola, Zambia, Republic of Congo, Enclave of Cabinda, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania (the DRC market is expandable to several countries).
Capital	Kinshasa (City-Province)
Provinces	Bas-Uele Équateur Haut-Katanga Haut-Lomami Haut-Uele Ituri Kasaï Kasaï-Oriental Kinshasa Kongo-Central Kwango Kwilu Lomami Lualaba Lulua Mai-Ndombe Maniema Mongala Nord-Kivu Nord-Ubangi Sankuru Sud-Kivu Sud-Ubangi Tanganyika Tshopo Tshuapa
Population (2017)	91,994 million (National Institute of Statistics, Yearbook Statistics, DRC 2017)
Time Zone	GMT +1, Kinshasa and Mbandaka time GMT +2, time of Lubumbashi, Kisangani and Goma
Official Languages	French (business official), Lingala, Tshiluba, Swahili and Kikongo
Measures	Metric System
Currency unit	Congolese Franc (CDF)
GDP (at current prices) (2019)	86,036.2 billion USD (source: Weekly summary of the Central Bank of Congo No. 5, January 2020)
GDP growth rate 2019	4.6% (source: Weekly summary of the Central Bank of Congo No. 5, January 2020)
Average annual inflation rate 209	4.5% (source: Weekly summary of the Central Bank of Congo No. 5, January 2020)
Currencies used in business transactions	Free circulation of all foreign currencies with the Congolese Franc
Volume of FDIs entering in 2017	1.340 billion USD
Internet penetration rate in 2019	17%
Mobile telephony penetration rate in 2019	41%
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) in 2019	3.5 USD
Number of Commercial Banks in 2019	18
Belonging to regional markets	Belonging to several sub-regional markets: SADC, COMESA, ECCAS and CEPGL, UN, ICGLR, …
Membership in international organizations	MIGA, CIRDI, OHADA, ACA…
Other assets	Hydroelectric potential: 100,000 Megawatts, representing: 23% of the world potential; 37% of the African potential; 52% of Africa’s reserves. 80 million hectares of arable land and 4 million hectares of irrigable land of which only 10% is currently exploited; Large expanses of grazing land with the capacity to raise more than 40 million head of cattle; Fishing potential of 700,000 tons of fish per year; 6% of Africa’s oil reserves, of which: Coastal basin: (5992 km2, Central Congo Province); Central Sedimentary Basin: (800,000 km2), with 32 blocks, not yet allocated. Basin of the Western Branch of the East African Rift. Copper-Cobalt-Zinc Strand; Diamond Strand; Nickel-Chromium Strand; Tanner and Accompanying Strand; Gold Strand (current mineral resources estimated at ± 750 tons of gold); Bauxite and Phosphate Strand; Iron-Manganese Strand; Road network of 145,000 km, only 3,000 km paved; Railway network of 5,033 km to be totally rehabilitated; Maritime, river and lake network of 16,238 km to be marked, dredged and exploited; 270 airport platforms to be rebuilt; Internal market of about 90 million inhabitants; 17 commercial banks, 1 Savings Bank of Congo; 79 Savings and Credit Cooperatives 2 specializedfinancial institutions (Fonds de Promotion de l’Industrie “Industry Promotion Fund” and Société Financière de Développement “Development Finance Corporation”); 4 electronic money institutions (Vodacash, Airtel Money, Orange Money and Afrimobile Money); 19 microfinance institutions; 9 national parks (Mangrove Marine Park in Central Kongo, Maïko National Park in the province of Ituri and the provinces of North Kivu and Maniema, Salonga National Park in the southern part of TSHUAPA province, GARAMBA National Park in the province of Haut-UELE, KAHUZI BIEGA National Park in South Kivu Province, VIRUNGA National Park in North Kivu, LOMAMI National Park, UPEMBA National Park in LUALABA Province and KUNDELUNGU National Park in Haut-Katanga Province; Numerous paradisiacal tourist sites available; Presence of 4 endemic species: Mountain Gorillas, Okapi, Bonobo and Congolese Peacock; Ecosystem varieties covering nearly 145 million hectares. Connection of the DRC to the high-speed fiber optic cable; 150 million ha, representing 47% of Africa’s tropical forests and 6% of the world’s tropical reserves; More than 1,000 forest species identified; Production potential: 10,000,000 m3 of wood per year; Forest area: 150 million ha…