Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
 Page 1 
 
 
I. ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 
(1) MAIN FEATURES OF THE ECONOMY  
1. The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the second-largest country in sub-Saharan 
Africa, occupying an area of 2,345,000 km2.  It shares borders with nine countries:  Angola, the 
Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania and 
Zambia.  It had a population of around 70 million in  2009, of whom about 30 per cent live in cities - 
Kinshasa (the capital), Lubumbashi and Kisangani being the largest urban areas with over a million inhabitants each.
1  The urbanization trend gathered pace in the 1990s as part of a rural exodus 
triggered by armed conflicts, the cities having been spared by the successive wars.  With an average 
infant mortality rate of 154 per 1,000 live births  in 2009 and an illiteracy rate of around 30 per cent, 
the DRC also has one of the African continent's lowest life expectancies at 49 years (Table I.1). 
Table I.1 
Basic social data, 1990, 2000, and 2005-2008 
Indicators 1990 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 
Population (million)  37.9  50.7  58.7  60. 6  62.4  64.2  69.2 
Urban population (%)  27.8  29.8  32.1  32.7  33.3  34.0  37.0 
Demographic growth rate (%)  3.1  2.9  1.5  0.3  0.3  0.3  0.3 
Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 live births )  200.4  178.6  165.6  163.5  161.4  158.1  154.0 
Life expectancy (years)  46.3  44  45.8  46.1  46.4  47.2  49.0 
Public health expenditure (% of GDP)  ..  ..  1.2  1.3  0.9  1.1  1.2 
Public education expenditure (% of GDP)  ..  ..  ..  ..  2.5  2.4  2.3 
Illiteracy (% of the population)  28.2  ..  ..  ..  32.8  30.1  30.0 
Human development index (HDI)  0.262  0.353  0.37  0.371  0.389  ..  .. 
.. Not available. 
Source : World Bank, various publications;  United Nations  Development Programme, Human Development Report, 
various years. 
 
2. The DRC is one of the world's least developed countries, with a gross national product (GDP) 
per capita of US$182 in 2008.2  This average figure conceals major differences, however, and does 
not take sufficient account of the country's ve ry large informal sector.  The DRC has many 
advantages, such as its vast territory;  its geographic situation, including borders with nine countries;  the size of its population;  a very extensive netw ork of navigable waterway s;  favourable conditions 
for agriculture;  huge mining and forestry resources ;  and substantial fishery stocks.  The DRC's 
subsoil is very rich in natural resources, holdi ng abundant copper, gold, diamond, cobalt, uranium, 
manganese, zinc and other ferrous, nonf errous and energy resources.  As the (mostly informal) mining 
sector provides a large fraction of real GDP a nd merchandise export earni ngs, fluctuations in 
commodity prices have a major influence on the trend and sector distribution of GDP. 
3. Agriculture (encompassing subsistence farming,  livestock breeding, hunting, fishing, and 
forestry activities) plays a key role in the economy, occupying just over 75 per cent of the 
economically active population and producing more th an 40 per cent of GDP in 2009.  The country's 
rudimentary manufacturing sector accounts for about 5 per cent of GDP and mainly serves the domestic market.  The services sector (around 30 per cent of GDP) has displayed burgeoning growth since 2000, particularly in the cellular telephony segment.  The DRC relies heavily on the external 
sector, and the value of its foreign trade in goods and services is approaching 130 per cent of GDP.  It 
has had a balance of payments deficit sin ce 2000, which grew from US$271 million in 2007 to 
US$493 million in 2008 (Chart I.1). 
                                                     
 
1 Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) (2009). 
2 World Bank (2009). WT/TPR/S/240 Trade Policy Review 
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4. Formal jobs are shared equally between the public and private sectors.  The high rate of 
unemployment (estimated at 40 per cent) is one of the main reasons for the size of the informal sector
3, which, according to the authorities, repr esented 20-25 per cent of GDP in 2008, and 
accounted for 80 per cent of non-agricultural jobs.4  The informal sector in the DRC is characterized 
firstly by a wide variety of participants and activ ities, and secondly by its great capacity to adapt to 
the trend of the national economic situation.  Handi crafts and trade, the most buoyant components of 
the informal sector, play an important role in th e economy, by allowing for lower-cost job creation, 
providing practical training for young people and help ing to conserve cultural heritage, while serving 
the population's needs. 
5. The DRC is emerging from over 15 years of war, civil unrest, and economic crises that 
fuelled high rates of inflation.5  The dramatic consequences of this long war are visible in all sectors 
of the country's social, cultural, political and economic life.  To serve an area comparable to that of 
the whole of Western Europe, the DRC has a network of just 2,500 km. of paved roads, most of which 
are in a bad state of repair.  The infrastructure defi cit, particularly in the transport sector, hampers the 
development of many sectors, particularly agriculture and mining.  Only about 5 per cent of the 
population has access to electricity.  The Doing Business 2009  report estimates that, out of 
182 countries, the DRC offers the least favourable  climate for economic and commercial activity;  
while the 2009 UNDP human developm ent index (HDI) ranks the DRC 176th out of 182 countries. 
(2) RECENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS  
6. Following a long decade of economic stagnation in the 1990s, GDP expanded from -7 to 6 per 
cent per year in the period 2000-2008, outpacing population growth (around 3 per cent) and thus 
providing the means to alleviate poverty (Tables I.1 and I.2).  These positive results stem from a combination of reforms implemented in 2001 and favourable commodity-price trends.  Since then, 
however, economic performance over the last two y ears has been weakened by the world financial 
and economic crisis. 
7. One of the main impediments to faster ec onomic growth and higher productivity in the 
DRC is the shortage of infrastructure.  The auth orities have taken several steps to overcome this 
problem, including entering into contracts with Chin ese firms to modernize its transport infrastructure 
(roads, ports and maritime transport installations),  and continuing to implem ent reforms to make the 
energy and telecommunications sectors more efficient.   Public-private partnerships have also been 
encouraged as a way to increase i nvestment, including foreign direct investment (FDI), in 
infrastructure-related sectors.  Financial-sector re forms, based on consolidating the banking sector, 
aim to close down insolvent institutions and foster th e creation of new more viable and credible banks 
that can finance the country's economic development. 
                                                     
 
3 Central Bank of the Congo (2007).  The unemployment rate should be interpreted with caution owing 
to the size of the informal sector. 
4 AfriEcoCom, 12 August 2010, estimates informal-sector employment in the DRC at 70 per cent. 
5 Some five million people are thought to have died as a result of violence, famine and diseases during 
the multiple wars that the DRC suffered during the period 1996-2009.  Source :  CIA Factbook. Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
 Page 3 
 
 
Chart I.1
Structure of merchan dise trade, 2000-2008
2000 2008
(a)    Exports
Total:  US$1,212.9 million Total:  US$3,728.4 million
(b)    Imports
Total:  US$655.0 million Total:  US$3,772.5 millionPercentages
Source :Manufactures
51.1
Other 
primary 
products
4.0Food products
31.6
Fuels
12.6
Chemicals
11.4Other semi-
manufactures
6.8Non-electrical 
machinery
6.1Electrical 
machinery
6.3Transport 
material  8.0Textiles and garments 
5.0Other  0.8
Iron 
and 
steel
1.8Other
5.6Agriculture
5.7
WTO Secretariat estimates, using mirror statis tics based on the UNSD Comtrade database
(SITC, Rev.3).Other consumer goods  
5.7
Manufactures
62.3
Other 
primary 
products
6.0Food products
20.5
Fuels
9.8
Chemicals
9.8Other semi-
manufactures
9.7Non-electrical 
machinery
13.9Electrical 
machinery
7.7Transport 
material 8.0Textiles and garments  
2.5Other
1.3
Iron 
and 
steel
4.8Other consumer 
goods 5.9
Primary 
products
48.1Primary 
products
36.3Cobalt
11.1
Copper
0.4
Petroleum oils, 
crude
16.0
Other mining 
and quarrying
1.1Diamonds
60.1Mining & 
quarrying
28.6Other
3.0Agriculture
7.1
Cobalt
40.1
Copper
29.9Petroleum oils, 
crude
4.4Other mining
& quarrying
3.6Diamonds
12.0
Mining & 
quarrying
78.0
 WT/TPR/S/240 Trade Policy Review 
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Table I.2 
Basic economic indicators, 1996 and 2000-2009 
 1996 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009b 
GDP growth rate -1.11 -6.89 -2.10 3.47 5.79 6.64 7.80 5.58 6.26 6.16 2.74 
Consumer prices (% 
variation) .. 511.2 135.1 15.8 4.4 9.2 21.3 18.2 10.0 27.6 46.3c 
Exchange rate (CDF/US$) 0.5 21.8 206.7 346.7 405.4 399.5 473.9 468.3 516.8 559.3 809.8 
Real effective exchange 
rate (base 1990 = 100)d 161.7 339.1 263.9 124.2 107.9 101.8 100.0 111.7 108.3 107.2 111.2 
Money supply (% variation 
in M2) .. 501.7 227.5 28.1 31.7 70.8 24.7 57.7 50.8 58.5 .. 
End-period interest 
(discount) rate (%) 238.0 120.0 140.0 24.0 8.0 14.0 29.0 40.0 22.5 40.0 70.0 
Total external debt (% of 
GDP) .. 93.6 199.4 186.0 189.1 171.8 139.5 121.2 108.3 110.2 .. 
Gross official reserves (in 
import months, goods and services) .. 0.7 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.1 .. 
Sectoral distribution of 
GDP            
Agriculture, hunting, 
forestry and fishing 33.3 49.4 58.7 50.0 48.0 49.0 47.2 46.3 43.8 41.1 41.1 
Industry 32.4 20.1 19.8 22.5 22.4 20.8 22.0 21.9 22.1 21.9 21.9 
 Mining 8.0 10.3 7.3 8.6 9.2 8.5 9.0 8.6 8.4 8.9 8.9 
 Manufacturing 8.8 4.8 4.8 5.3 4.9 5.2 5.3 5.1 5.2 5.1 5.1 
Services 33.5 29.4 19.8 25.6 27.4 27.6 27.9 28.8 30.4 32.1 32.1 
Import duties and taxes 0.9 1.2 1.7 1.9 2.2 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.7 4.9 4.9 
Use of GDP (% of GDP)            
Final consumption 77.5 89.2 93.1 87.8 93.4 83.1 78.1 83.3 85.5 85.0 85.0 
 Household consumption 71.3 81.7 88.2 82.6 81.4 67.0 56.8 61.6 67.3 72.8 72.8 
 Public consumption 6.2 7.5 4.9 5.2 12.0 16.1 21.3 21.7 18.2 12.2 12.2 
Gross fixed capital 
formation 15.5 10.5 7.6 8.6 12.5 18.5 20.0 20.7 19.2 19.8 19.8 
Variation in inventories -1.2 0.6 0.5 0.7 1.2 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.0 1.0 1.0 
Exports of goods and 
services 30.9 6.5 14.2 24.4 26.8 35.1 34.6 36.2 45.1 45.4 45.4 
Imports of goods and 
services 22.7 6.7 15.4 21.5 33.9 38.0 33.9 41.3 50.7 51.3 51.3 
National accounts 
Government accounts 
(% of GDP)            
Total income .. 6.4 10.7 15.7 19.5 22.6 33.5 30.1 29.8 18.1 .. 
 Revenue .. 3.7 4.7 7.7 9.6 11.8 14.6 16.7 15.8 18.1 .. 
 Tax revenue .. 3.5 4.4 6.7 6.4 8.7 9.9 11.4 11.6 14.2 .. 
 Non-tax revenue .. 0.3 0.4 1.0 3.3 3.0 4.7 5.3 4.3 3.9 .. 
 Grants .. 2.1 5.8 7.8 9.7 8.9 19.0 13.5 13.9 0.0 .. 
 Current grants .. 1.4 4.3 5.2 2.6 5.9 7.1 6.9 5.3 0.0 .. 
 Capital grants .. 0.7 1.5 2.6 7.2 3.0 11.8 6.5 8.7 0.0 .. 
 Statistical adjustment .. 0.5 0.1 0.3 0.1 1.9 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0  
Public expenditure .. 9.9 10.6 14.5 19.9 21.8 34.8 30.8 30.2 18.6 .. 
 Current expenditure .. 9.0 9.0 11.7 12.1 18.0 22.2 23.4 21.0 17.3 .. 
 Capital expenditure .. 0.9 1.6 2.8 7.8 3.8 12.7 7.3 9.1 1.3 .. 
Deficit (-) or surplus (+) .. -3.5 0.1 1.2 -0.4 0.8 -1.3 -0.6 -0.4 -0.4 .. Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
 Page 5 
 
 
 1996 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 2009b 
Balance of payments (% 
of GDP)            
 Trade balance .. 0.9 1.3 0.9 -2.1 -2.1 -4.0 -2.2 8.8 1.4 .. 
 Current account balance 
(excluding public grants) .. -2.5 -3.3 0.0 -1.1 -5.1 -5.9 -4.6 -1.3 -8.8 .. 
.. Not available. 
a Estimates. 
b Projections. 
c October 2009. 
d An increase represents depreciation. 
Source : Central Bank of the Congo, Rapport annuel 2007 ;  IMF, IFS, CD-ROM;  and IMF Country Reports Nos. 07/329 
and 10/11;  World Bank, World Development Indicators .  Viewed at:  http://ddp-ext.worldbank.org/ 
ext/DDPQQ/showReport.do?method=showReport. 
 
8. In July 2010, the DRC became the 30th country to attain the completion point under the 
Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative,  which afforded it debt relief totalling some 
US$12.3 billion - US$11.1 billion under the Enhanced HIPC Initiative, and US$1.2 billion under the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative (MDRI).  Accordin g to the authorities, the funds thus released 
would be invested in socioeconomic activities aimed at reducing poverty. 
9. Progress has been made on budgetary issues, a nd total public income h as grown substantially 
since 2000, expanding from 10.7 per cent of GDP in 2001 to 30.2 per cent in 2007, before falling back 
to 18.9 per cent in 2008, mainly as a result of the difficult economic situation and the absence of new 
grants in that year, which had represented 13.9 per cent of GDP in 2007 (Table I.3).  Fiscal revenue 
rose gradually from 3.5 per cent of GDP in 2001 to 14.2 per cent in 2008, boosted by a near-tenfold increase in public-sector earnings from foreign trad e.  Output growth and steps taken by the 
Government to improve tax collec tion have contributed to this result.  The implementation of an 
integrated budgetary management system in Janua ry 2001, involving automation of the expenditure 
chain, has improved the monitoring of expenditure  execution and enhanced transparency in public 
finances.  Nonetheless, the structure of the DRC' s budget still contains a very large proportion of 
current expenses in relation to capital expenditure.  Annual average current expenditure accounted for 
some 75 per cent of total public spending throughout 2000-2008 (Tables I.2 and I.3).  A globally 
prudent budgetary policy made it possible to contain the deficit (Table I.2) despite the major shocks 
that have buffeted the economy, particularly the collapse of commodity prices and an increase in the 
defence budget to deal with the unrest in the eastern provinces. 
10. Monetary policy is in the hands of  the Central Bank of the Congo (BCC)
6, whose key 
objective is to ensure price stability and stability in the national currency.  Apart from this main 
mission, the BCC has the following additional responsib ilities:  management of the country's official 
reserves;  regulation of foreign-currency transactions;  participation in the nego tiation of international 
agreements on payment modalities;  regulation a nd control of lending establishments and financial 
intermediaries;  and promotion of the proper fu nctioning of money and capital markets.  Its 
intervention tools are the refinancing rate, treasu ry bill auctioning and required reserves.  The 
implementation of these instruments is decided on by the Monetary Policy Committee.7 
11. Inflation in the DRC is essentially of moneta ry origin, fuelled by BCC financing of the 
public-sector deficit;  but it also has structural elements, caused, among other factors, by the lack of 
                                                      
6 Created on 30 July 1951 by Royal Decree. 
7 Law No. 005/2002, of 7 May 2002, concerning the establishment, organization and functioning of the 
Central Bank of the Congo. WT/TPR/S/240 Trade Policy Review 
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integrated transport infrastructure.  The combin ation of prudent monetary  and budgetary policies, 
implemented following reforms supported by the Inte rnational Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World 
Bank since 2001, made it possible to reduce the cumulative inflation rate from 511.2 per cent in December 2000 to 53.4 per cent in the same month in 2009.  In 2008, the BCC changed its main 
refinancing rate four times ( 24 per cent, 30 per cent, 28 per cent and 40 per cent);  and in 
January 2009, the rate was raised twice (to 55 per cent and 65 per cent).  The required reserves ratio 
remained unchanged throughout 2008 at 5 per cent, but  was increased to 7 per cent in January 2009.  
Required reserves totalled CDF 26.4 billion at 14 January 2009, compared to CDF 38.6 billion at 
12 December 2009. 
12. The national currency, the Congolese Franc (CDF),  has been subject to a floating exchange 
rate since 2001.  The persistence, and even aggrav ation of domestic and external imbalances, was one 
of the features of the country's economy until rest rictive monetary and budgetary policies were 
introduced in June 2001.  Domestically, excessive pub lic-sector deficits caused a deterioration of the 
Government's net position with the BCC.  External ly, the imbalances are related to high current and 
financial account deficits. 
13. The obvious consequences of this situation, partic ularly in relation to the exchange rate, have 
led to a significant and continuous depreciati on of the national currency.  On 26 May 2001, the 
DRC devalued its currency by 84 per cent - the larg est devaluation in the country's history since 
independence in June 1960.  This was immediately followed by a return to the floating exchange-rate 
regime.  As of June 2001, the DRC implemente d its Enhanced Interim Programme (PIR) with 
IMF support.  The PIR has since been  replaced successively as follows:  (i) in late March 2002 by the 
Government Economic Programme (PEG), financed since June 2002 by the Poverty Reduction and 
Growth Facility (PRGF);  (ii) in 2006 by a variet y of programmes carried out with IMF support;  and 
(iii) in December 2009, by the second PEG, whic h attained the HIPC completion point at its 
first review.  These programmes have helped restor e a degree of stability in the national currency. 
14. From 2001 to 2005, the trend of the exchange  rate (US$/CDF) responded globally to the 
supply and demand for currency on the foreign excha nge market (Table I.3).  Nonetheless, from 2006 
to 2009, this trend was essentially governed by  non-economic factors, particularly economic 
agents' expectations of a future depreciation of the CDF against foreign currencies.  These 
expectations were based on the electoral climate pr evailing in 2006 and 2007, and the effects of the 
international financial crisis in 2008 and 2009.
8 
Table I.3 
Supply of and demand for foreign currency and implications for the exchange rate, 2001-2009 
Exchange rate variation (US$/CDF) 
(%)  Demand for foreign 
exchange Supply of foreign 
exchange Balance 
Official Parallel 
2001  91.9  89.3  -2.6  -1.1  -2.4 
2002  174.2  170.1  -4.2  -18.5  -19.4 
2003  188.8  247.1  58.3  2.6  4.3 
2004  245.5  319.4  73.9  -16.1  -17.8 
2005  247.4  313.9  66.5  2.9  4.3 
2006  332.53  392.71  60.19  -14.3  -15.8 
2007  615.99  587.08  -28.91  0.1  2.2 
2008  926.45  984.02  57.57  -20.5  -23.2 
2009  862.75  997.78  135.03  -29.9  -28.1 
Source : BCC/Economic Analysis Department. 
 
                                                      
8 BCC (2010), Notes de conjonctures . Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
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(3) TRADE AND INVESTMENT PERFORMANCE  
(i) Trade in goods and services 
(a) Merchandise trade 
15. The structure of the DRC's trade has not ch anged significantly since 2000 (Tables AI.1 and 
AI.2, and Chart I.1).  Nonetheless, the share of goods and services imports in GDP rose from 6.7 per 
cent in 2000 to 50.7 per cent in 2007, while the corresponding exports expanded from 6.5 per cent to 45.1 per cent of GDP over the same period.  Trade in goods and services recorded a deficit averaging 
2.3 per cent of GDP in the period, except in 2002 and 2005 when there were surpluses of 2.9 per cent 
and 0.7 per cent, respectively. 
16. Total merchandise exports in the DRC were estimated at US$3,728.4 million in 2008, 
compared to US$1,212.9 million in 2000, reflecting higher prices of raw materials on world markets (mining commodities in particular), and their increased  production in the DRC.  Despite this threefold 
increase in export values, however, the country posted a substantial trade deficit averaging 
US$732.9 million per year between 2006 and 2008, compared to surpluses averaging US$447.2 million between 2000 and 2005 (Chart I.2). 
17. The country's main imports include food products , fuels, transport machinery and materials, 
and non-electrical machinery.  Th e surge in the prices of most of these products on international 
markets between 2006 and 2008 caused their sh are in total import value to increase. 
18. Purchases from the European Union (EU) acc ounted for 43.5 per cent of total imports in 
2000, compared to 28.9 per cent in 2008 (Tables AI.3 and AI.4).  This fall made South Africa the 
leading source of the DRC's merchandise imports, follo wed by the EU, Zambia and China (Chart I.2). 
19. The DRC's exports remain poorly diversifie d although the range of products exported has 
become much wider over the last five years.  Nevert heless, diversification is still confined to mining 
products, chiefly cobalt, copper, di amonds, and petroleum.  Mining alone generated an average of 
64 per cent of exports in 2006 and 2008, compared to 47.6 per cent in 2000.  Exports of certain 
products, such as cobalt and copper, grew, respectivel y, from 0.4 per cent and 11.1 per cent in 2000 to 
29.9 per cent and 40.1 per cent in 2008.  In contrast, exports of diamonds and oil collapsed from 
60.1 per cent and 16 per cent in 2000 to 12 per cent and 4.4 per cent in 2008, in that order (Chart I.1).  The obsolescence of production units in Miba, th e leading diamond-producing company, largely 
explains the slump in diamond exports.  Similarly, the departure of Mobil and Texaco could explain 
the collapse of oil exports.  Other export products , such as timber, have remained below their 2006 
levels, prior to the surge in prices. 
20. The DRC's main export markets are the EU (par ticularly Belgium), China, Zambia and the 
United States.  China has gained first place ow ing to its strong presence in mining activities;  
Belgium's share of total exports shrank from 62.3 per cent in 2000 to 13.17 per cent in 2008, while China's share grew from 2 per cent to 42.5 per cent ove r the same period.  Apart from Zambia, official 
exports to other African countries are negligible , despite the existence of preferential trading 
arrangements such as the Economic Community of  Central African States (ECCAS), the Common 
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), of which the DRC is a signatory (Chapter II(3)(ii)). WT/TPR/S/240 Trade Policy Review 
Page 8 
 
 
Chart I.2
Direction of merchandise trade, 2000-2008
2000 2008
(a)    Exports
Total:  US$1,212.9 million
(b)    Imports
Total:  US$655.0 million Total:  US$3,772.5 millionPercentages
WTO Secretariat estimates, using mirror statistics based data obtained from the UNSD 
Comtrade database (SITC Rev.3).Africa
42.6Africa
52.3America
2.1
Belgium
25.2
Other EU (27)
4.6Netherlands 4.3China  2.8Other Asia
6.6Other
2.3
EU (27)
43.5
France
6.1EU (27)
28.9Asia
46.5 EU (27)
77.3Other
2.2
United States
7.3
Zambia
14.3China
42.5Other Asia
4.0
Other Africa  
13.2Belgium
13.7
Other EU 
(27)
7.3Finland
8.7EU (27)
29.7
Source :Germany 3.4Asia
9.4Asia
10.7Other
1.2
United States
18.5Zambia  1.0Asia  2.0
Belgium
62.3Other EU (27)
8.1
Finland
6.9
Total:  US$3,728.4 million
Zambia
5.9
South Africa  
19.2Kenya  4.3America
6.7
Belgium
10.4
Other EU (27)
7.0Netherlands 3.5China  6.2Other Asia 4.5Other
1.4
France
4.9Other Africa 
11.1
Germany 3.3
Zambia
7.6
South Africa
29.8Kenya
3.8
 Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
 Page 9 
 
 
(b) Trade in services 
21. The DRC is a net importer of services.  Its services sector is dominated by transport and 
telecommunications.  Imports of tradable services rose from under US$550 million prior to 2004 to over US$2 billion in 2008.  Servi ces exports have also grown substantially, albeit by less than 
imports.  Prospects for an expansion of trade in  services in the DRC are good.  For example, banking 
services in countries neighbouring the DRC are widely used by planters in the eastern part of the 
country because of the shortcomings of the DRC's banking system (Table I.4). 
Table I.4 
Balance-of-payments developments, 2000-2008 
(US$ million and per cent) 
 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008a 
Current accounts -337.6 -226.1 1.9 -59.6 -332.5 -420.9 -395.3 -134.1 -1047.5 
 Merchandise trade 123.8 90.9 51.6 -116.9 -134.2 -287.6 -186.9 890.7 166 
 Exports f.o.b. 806.6 880.4 1132.1 1377.7 1917.2 2402.8 2704.7 6147.9 6891.5 
 Imports f.o.b. 682.8 789.5 1080.5 1494.6 2051.4 2690.4 2891.6 5257.2 6725.5 
Services -150.7 -175.1 -213.9 -283.3 -374.5 -826.1 -472.9 -1225.2 -1275.5 
 Income 66.9 79.3 130.9 144.6 402.2 343.1 432.9 392.5 828.1 
 Transport 1.3 1.4 5 2.5 8 11.5 2.7 21.8 37 
 Travel 0.6 0.7 1.3 5.6 3 3.2 3.1 0.7 0.7 
 Other services 65 77.2 124.6 136.5 391.2 328.4 427.1 370 790.4 
 Expenditure 217.6 254.4 344.8 427.9 776.7 1169.2 905.8 1617.7 2103.6 
 Transport 82.5 58.7 100 146.2 299.8 824.6 357 734.5 997 
 Travel 29.6 62.7 40.4 51.9 49.4 53.5 92.7 108.7 126.7 
 Other services 105.5 133 204.4 229.8 427.5 291.1 456.1 774.5 979.9 
Income -393.5 -403.8 -312.6 -179 -284.9 -55 -456.9 -661.5 -917.8 
 Income 15.8 19.6 5.9 66.5 20.5 9.5 17.6 26 17.7 
 Expenditure 409.3 423.4 318.5 245.5 305.4 64.5 474.5 687.5 674.8 
Current transfers 82.9 261.9 476.8 519.6 461.2 747.9 721.4 861.8 979.7 
 Credit 210.3 381 629.5 767.8 695.1 943.7 1203.1 1484.4 .. 
 Debit 127.4 119.1 152.7 248.2 233.9 195.8 481.7 622.6 .. 
Capital and financial accounts -502.2 - 313.7 35.8 -109.1 72.3 244.2 13.2 -56.6 208.1 
 Capital account -122 0 0 0 -34.1 -91.3 81.7 -1.5 110.5 
 Financial account -380.2 -313.7 35.8 -109.1 106.4 335.5 -68.5 -55.1 97.6 
 Direct investment 72 80.3 124.6 367.9 401.4 -13.4 237.7 1793.7 1672.8 
 Portfolio investment -44.7 -1.71 -119.3 -146.5 -505.6 -13.4 -413.3 -1833.6 -1637.5 
 Other investment -407.5 -392.3 30.6 -330.5 210.6 362.4 107 -15.2 62.3 
Errors and omissions 120.37 -180.79 -80.51 -145.3 15.98 0 -42.7 -80.76 346.3 
Overall balance -719.5 -720.6 -42.8 -314.2 -244.3 -176.6 -424.8 -272.4 -493 
.. Not available. 
a Estimates. 
Source : BCC, Principaux indicateurs économiques .  Viewed at:  http://www.bc c.cd/downloads/stat/indeco/ 
indi_comesa.pdf. 
 
(ii) Direct investment 
22. Despite its legislative efforts (Chapter II(4)), th e DRC still finds it hard to attract FDI, inflows 
of which amounted to US$132 million in 2003, repr esenting 23.6 per cent of the country's gross fixed 
capital formation.  FDI flows then rose to US$50 0 million in 2006, compared to US$405 million in 
2005, and totalled US$1,808 million, US$1,727 m illion and US$951 million in  2007, 2008 and 2009 
respectively.9  Mining and telecommunications, along with energy and banking, attracted most 
investment, particularly from abroad, following refo rm and deregulation of the respective sectors. 
                                                      
9 UNCTAD (2010). WT/TPR/S/240 Trade Policy Review 
Page 10 
 
 
23. In 2002-2004, UNCTAD classified the DRC in the category of underperforming countries, 
i.e. those with low FDI potential10 and poor FDI performance.11  In general, the investment climate is 
not favourable to the private sector.  Deterren ts include a strong perception of corruption and 
continued infrastructure problems.  Furthermore, th e regulatory framework is inadequate because the 
regulations and how they are applied remain unpredicta ble, the judicial system is not fully effective, 
and taxation is relatively high and not always a ppropriately enforced.  There are also difficulties 
relating to loan access and cost.12 
24. Because of the poor ranking of the DRC in the World Bank's Doing Business 2010  report in 
terms of obstacles to starting a business (Chapter II(4)), the Government has set itself the goal of 
improving its ranking by ten places and has adopted a number of measures to improve the business 
climate.  A Doing Business  steering committee has been set up to implement the priority measures 
proposed by the Federation of Congolese Enterpri ses (FEC), which aim mainly at rationalizing 
taxation and reducing administrative bureaucracy.  The liberalization process embarked upon in early 
2001 is being continued, and the Government, in co llaboration with the IMF and the World Bank, has 
implemented reforms and issued a number of re gulations to make the country's business climate 
attractive. 
(4) PROSPECTS  
25. The DRC's short and medium-term economic pros pects are encouraging, subject to full 
pacification of the country, which is a sine qua non  for its sustained economic growth.  The injection 
of additional resources into the economy, following ex ternal debt relief delivery, is intended to boost 
economic activities, particularly those targeting so cial needs, such as poverty reduction.  Achieving 
this requires the implementation of satisfactory measures to increase the State's absorption capacity 
and to strengthen good governance.  The start-up of labour-intensive projects such as road and railway 
building would help reduce unemployment and restimulate the economy. 
26. With the recovery of the world economy, implementation of the Chinese-Congolese 
agreement (award of mining concessions in return for infrastructure construction), and debt relief 
under the HIPC and MDRI which occurred in July 2010, the Government is hoping to achieve real 
growth rates of 6.5 per cent in 2010, 8.8 per cent in 2011, and around 10 per cent in the ensuing years 
up to 2015.  Exports are expected to play a key role in boosting economic growth, with consumption 
and heavy investment in infrastructure as contributing factors.13 
27. The Government intends to maintain appropria te macroeconomic policies, particularly in 
terms of the budget, including through its ongoing  structural reforms.  The reforms aim, inter alia , to 
reduce the DRC's reliance on customs duties as a source of fiscal revenue;  expand the tax base;  and remedy the infrastructure shortage (particularly ro ads, electricity, transport and telecommunications), 
capital market rigidities, restrictive regulations and administrative burdens, and multiple parafiscal 
                                                     
 
10 The Inward FDI Potential Index captures several fact ors (apart from market si ze) that are expected to 
affect an economy's attractiveness to fo reign investors.  It is an average of the values (normalized to yield a 
score between zero, for the lowest scor ing country, to one, for the highest) of 12 variables (no weights are 
attached in the absence of a priori reasons to se lect particular weights).  For the methodology, see 
UNCTAD (undated). 
11 The Inward FDI Performance Index ranks countri es by the FDI they recei ve relative to their 
economic size, calculating the ratio of a country's share in  global FDI inflows to its share in global GDP.  For 
the methodology, see UNCTAD (und ated).  See also UNCTAD (2006). 
12 FEC (2007). 
13 Growth and poverty reduction strategy paper (GPRSP) and information letter from the Congolese 
Government to the Direct or-General of the IMF. Democratic Republic of the Congo WT/TPR/S/240 
 Page 11 
 
 
requirements and other obstacles to competition.  A ll of these elements add to the costs of commercial 
transactions in the DRC, impede productivity improvement, hamper exports and discourage FDI.14  
Private domestic and foreign investment is currently  encouraged by public-private partnerships for 
infrastructure development and the easing of rest rictions on FDI, together with multiple tax 
incentives.15 
                                                      
14 FEC (2007). 
15 Law No. 004/2002 of 21 of February 2002, containing the Investment Code.