DR Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a vast, mineral-rich nation that is nonetheless one of the world's poorest, its enormous resource wealth squandered by decades of dictatorship, war, and corruption.

It holds staggering reserves of cobalt and copper — central to the global battery and electronics industries — yet conflict in its east and weak governance leave most of its huge population in poverty.

Key Sectors

The economy is dominated by mining: the DRC is the world's largest producer of cobalt and a top copper producer, with diamonds, gold, and coltan, alongside subsistence agriculture.