From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:ZAIRE: AN INFORMAL SECTOR THRIVES AGGRESSIVELY
Date: 9 Jan 93 16:18:13 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1993, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Commodities; Agriculture
Title: ZAIRE: AN INFORMAL SECTOR THRIVES AGGRESSIVELY


an inter press service feature

by tichaindepi hwacha

kinshasa, dec 29 (ips) -- to the background of heavy soukous and
kwasa kwasa music, an aggressive informal sector thrives in the
capital of africa's third largest country.

rich in gold, copper, diamond, cobalt and uranium and endowed
with soils well-suited to agriculture, zaire is potentially one
of the richest countries on the african continent.

but the country's legendary wealth, described by its belgian
colonisers as a ''geological scandal'', does not seem to have
made an impact on the lives of the ordinary citizen.

''here the government does nothing for us. in kinshasa you
have to look out for yourself. before the looting it was not so
bad, but now we survive only by the grace of god'', says a taxi
driver who identifies himself only as vangu.

in september 1991 soldiers and civilians took to the streets
of kinshasa and looted and destroyed shops, houses and
companies, and brought the country's already fragile economy to
its knees.

today, many shops in kinshasa are just huge gaping holes.
business of all kinds -- photocopying, catering, currency and
mineral dealing and small trade -- is carried out from the
pavements or from the central market where many traders, unable
to rebuild their shops, have relocated their businesses.

however, zaire's ecomomic woes go back to a long time before
the looting, which is widely suspected to have been engineered
by president mobutu sese seko himself to create an atmosphere of
insecurity in the country.

years of economic mismangement and looting of state coffers
by mobutu and his clan, massive bribery and corruption in the
public sector, the zaireanisation decrees of 1974  and the world
economic recession of 1975 form the backdrop to the present
crisis in zaire.

despite all its resources, zaire is today one of the most
indebted countries in the developing world with more than 95
percent of its gross national product constituting its total
debt.

the country's economic growth rate, estimated at minus one
percent this year, is expected to decline even further to minus
eight percent in 1993. (more/ips)
---


zaire: an informal (2)

the abdication of mobutu's 24-year dictatorship from any
responsiblity to its citizens has nurtured the emergence of a
second economy in which many residents of kinshasa have devised
numerous survival strategies.

the parallel market thrives here and, unlike in many other
african cities, is carried out openly in cafes and street
corners around the city's main square. attempts by police to
clamp down on the business are easily silenced with a payoff.

parallel marketeering is so rampant that sometimes the
central bank of zaire has no money.

''the money is all on the streets. i handle more money in a
day than the central bank of zaire'', says one big-time foreign
currency dealer who did not wish to be named.

in 1980 the exhange rate of the zaire to the dollar was one
to 2.2. today, it fluctuates at around slightly above two
million to the dollar. carrying 1,000 dollars in zaires is a
task that would require a wheel barrow.

''before that it (the exchange rate) was one to one and before
that we were three points above the dollar. it's because the
ecomony is bad'', says the dealer.

bribery, or ''matabishi'' as it is commonly known here, is
also a common way to supplement the meagre wages earned by
government employees who often are not paid for several months.

at ndjili international airport, 25 km from the capital,
witholding the passports of visitors to the country for no
apparent reason is a ploy often used to extract bribes.

''we have to survive'', says ikango isek-amba, an immigration
official, at the airport.

earning about 100 dollars a month, government employees can
barely keep up with the spiralling inflation, currently estimated
at 60 percent a year.

with only 35 percent of the country's 35 million people in
formal employment, unemployment continues to be high and has
spiralled a high rate of delinquency and crime among the youth.

a 50-kg bag of the staple manioc (cassava meal) costs about
40 million zaires. under the government's minimum wage, the
lowest paid workers earn as little as 20 million zaires -- about
10 dollars. (more/ips)
----


zaire: an informal (3)

for many women here, trading in cloth imported from england,
china and the netherlands provides the means of livelihood for
many a family.

''i have been supporting the family since my husband lost his
job as a shop assistant after the looting'', says julienne nkungi
who trades in fabric at the central market.

her husband who has been unable to find employment is now in
kivu, north eastern zaire, trying to penetrate the gold trade
which, along with the illicit sale of diamond, is a big business
on the country's ''second economy'' -- the informal sector.

ten-year old marcel lumbu left home about six months ago to
try and make his living on the street as a shoe shine boy.

''but who wants their shoes shined these days'', he says.
''on some days i make nothing at all. sometimes i get so hungry
i steal food from the women in the market and just run for it,
or where i can i pick a pocket''.

but the growth of the parallel economy in zaire into a fairly
efficient system with its own supply, distribution and even
small-scale manufacturing mechanisms has cost the state billions
of dollars in taxes.

''i just refuse to pay tax. the government does nothing for
me and besides i don't make much money'', says marie paule wamba
another cloth trader in the city's central market.
(end/ips/tvh/apc/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african