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  • Publication | 2023
Democratic Republic of the Congo Country Economic Memorandum (CEM) - Pathways to Economic Diversification and Regional Trade Integration: Fostering Economic Diversification and Regional Integration for Faster Growth, Job Creation and Poverty Reduction
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Despite its rich endowment in natural and human resources, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has struggled to reach its full economic potential, partly due to persistent high levels of vulnerability and fragility. Decades of conflict, poor governance, weak fiscal institutions, mismanagement of natural resources, and protracted violence have led to limited progress in building human and physical capital, which has resulted in economic underperformance and high levels of poverty. However, over the last decade, the DRC economy has experienced impressive growth associated with a significant return to macroeconomic stability. With 5.7 percent average growth over 2011-2021, the DRC economy ranked among the fastest-growing Sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies. Despite this revival, the DRC shows a lower catch-up pace and has made little progress in bringing its GDP per capita back to its 1960 level. Ambitious economic reforms are critical to place the country on a diversified growth path conducive to middle-income country status.