Failure by President Felix Tshisekedi to competently manage the affairs of the Democratic Republic of Congo has continued to keep the country in the brackets of the most poorest countries in the world.
A political observer, Tambwe Ilunga, says the DRC should never rank among the poorest countries in the world but President Tshisekedi and his team of incompetent government officials have thrown one of the most richest nations in that bracket.
“I have always refused that the DRC be classified as poor,” Ilunga says, adding “instead it must be allowed without external influence to flourish.”
President Tshisekedi has allowed corruption to take its root and he has failed to manage the volatile situation in the Eastern parts of Congo where a rebel group known as M23 is causing havoc.
The Head of State has spent more time galivanting and globe-trotting in the company of a horde of advisors who get millions of dollars on the trips as allowances while they strike deals and receive kickbacks from prospective investors.
Granted, the DRC has been ravaged by civil war since independence in the 1960s that saw Patrice Lumumba killed on January 17, 1961 and when Mobutu Sese Seko took over through a coup that same year, he did nothing for the country but became a kleptocratic leader and ruled for over 30 years until he was removed by Mzee Laurent Desire Kabila in revolt in May 1997.
Mzee Kabila was later assassinated by his bodyguard on January 16, 2001 with a simmering civil war ensuing. His son, Joseph Kabila, took over power and tried to stabilize the country but was not as successful after 18 years.
President Tshisekedi, who took over power in 2019 after a controversial election, has made the situation worse with the country plunged into another civil war especially in the Kivu region. It is this political instability in Congo that has destroyed the economy of the country.
According to the World Bank, the international poverty line is set at $2.15 per person per day using 2017 prices which means anyone living on less than $2.15 a day is in extreme poverty.
About 648 million people globally were in this situation as of 2019.
“Poverty depends not only on income but also on access to services. Where people are severely deprived of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information,” the report reads.
Of the 27 countries worldwide currently ranked by World Bank as Low Income Economies, indicating they are the very poorest countries in the world, 23 are in Africa.
Although the Democratic Republic of Congo is one of the top 10 poorest countries in Africa and appears on the World Bank list, it is estimated as the richest country in the world in as far as natural resources and its untapped deposits of raw minerals concerned as they are said to be worth in excess of U.S. $24 trillion.
It’s this contrast that Ilunga says should appeal to the Congolese as they prepare to elect leaders in 2023 so they can change their country for the better.
POOREST COUNTRIES IN AFRICA IN 2023: GNI per Capita (Atlas Method, $US)
The 10 Poorest Countries in Africa (by 2020 GDP per capita, PPP, current int.$):*
Burundi ($771)
Somalia ($875)
Central African Republic ($980)
Democratic Republic of the Congo ($1,131)
Niger ($1,263)
Mozambique ($1,297)
Liberia ($1,428)
Malawi ($1,568)
Madagascar ($1,593)
Chad ($1,603)
