# **1. Introduction**

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been in the seemingly paradoxical situation of being a fast-growing economy with a slow pace of poverty reduction and an increasing number of poor. As peace and security have been gradually restored after years of civil war and violence, the DRC has undergone impressive economic progress. The rate of economic growth ranged from 5.6 percent to 6.2 percent between 2002 and 2008, with a period of decline during the financial crisis in 2009. It picked up once again, registering an average growth rate of 7.5 percent in 2010–2015.

This impressive growth, however, has not translated into much benefit for the poor. Poverty incidence (that is, the population's share of poor people) is declining, but by less than 1 percentage point a year (the poverty rate fell from 69 to 64 percent between 2005 and 2012). Fast population growth driven by a high fertility rate (6.6 per woman in 2014) has resulted in an increase in the number of poor and has added pressure on the DRC’s already low human development. If current demographic and economic trends continue, the number of poor may increase by 8 million by 2030.

A lack of job opportunities—particularly for the youth—has been one of the factors contributing to the slow pace of poverty reduction in the DRC. A high rate of unemployment and underemployment is cited as an indication that the country’s economic growth has not been inclusive. A lack of job opportunities for the youth may create a fertile ground for social unrest, particularly in the context of a post-conflict and fragile state. The World Bank estimates suggest that the DRC needs to create 2 million to 4 million jobs every year to absorb new entrants into the labor market and reduce poverty (World Bank 2018).

This study provides an analysis of the labor market and jobs in urban Kinshasa—the capital of DRC. This focus on Kinshasa is predicated by the fact that it has vast potential to serve as a growth engine for job creation and poverty reduction in the country. Kinshasa is on its way to becoming the largest megacity in Africa over the next 25 to 30 years, registering an influx of 400,000 new inhabitants every year. Thus, the future of economic growth and poverty eradication rests upon the city’s ability to absorb these new entrants and provide them with access to jobs, more importantly, quality jobs. In particular, this study seeks to answer the following questions:

- (a) What are the labor supply and employment patterns in Kinshasa? And who is excluded from the labor market, either being inactive, unemployed, or underemployed?

- (b) What types of jobs, in terms of the economic sectors, informality, and self-employment versus wage, exist in Kinshasa? And where do they spatially concentrate in the city?

- (c) How is the labor market status related to neighborhoods and location characteristics?

To answer these questions, this paper relies primarily on a recently conducted household survey in Kinshasa, and is supplemented with other existing surveys and spatial data sets. The findings are summarized as follows. First, female and young workers are more likely to experience unemployment and underemployment than other workers in Kinshasa. The policy needs to support female and young workers by removing barriers—such as discrimination against them—to their accessing better jobs. Second, the availability of good-quality jobs is still limited in Kinshasa. The majority of existing jobs are low-productive, informal self-employment jobs. Third, in addition to 2