In the age of globalization and development, almost 80% of world populations are living in poverty. In the 20th century, after decolonization when most of the countries got their independency, it did not work how they wanted to. Most of the countries especially African countries, fell into deep poverty and debt which they could not stand on their feet. This paper will shed lights on the economic struggles of democratic republic of Congo and the reasons behind it then suggest some solutions.
Bottom billion countries is a term that is used to referring to those countries which are falling behind or falling apart economically (Collier 2007). One of the most apparent bottom billion countries is The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) formally known as Zaire , it is the second biggest country in Africa with a population of 65 million (Shah 2010). DRC had been colonized by Belgium Empire and that period had long term political and economic affects not to mention cultural and language control. Furthermore, at the period of colonization, DRC was extracted from most of its natural resources and the people were treated as slaves for almost a century and that went on till the 1960’s. After the 1960’s, when most of Africa including Zaire got their independency, the problems of running a country on their own started in addition to the rise of many other issues. Therefore, (Collier 2007) categorizes the problems that are holding back the bottom billion countries into four categories and called them traps. The traps are; the conflict trap, natural resources Trap, landlocked with bad neighbors and bad governance trap. in addition to the traps that Collier mentioned, Sachs (2005,56) has identified few other traps like Cultural barriers, geopol...
... middle of paper ...
...ferent circumstances. Traps of conflict, natural resources, landlocked and bad governance has impacted deeply on the economic development and improvement in Congo due to past and present problems and issues. In this paper, the traps that are holding back Congo along with some of solutions were mentioned and discussed briefly.
Works Cited
-Collier, Paul. The Bottom Billion. New York: Oxford University press, 2007.
-Katunga, John. "report from Africa." Wilson Center. Vol. 12. Wilson Center, n.d.
-Nibishaka, Emmanuel. "Natural resources and conflict in the Democratci Republic of Congo(DRC)." Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung. 2011.
-Sachs, Jeffery. The end of poverty. New York: the penguin press, 2005.
-Shah, Anup. The Democratic Republic of Congo. Global issues, 2010.
-Williams, Christopher. "Explaining the great war in Africa." Fletcherforum. Vol. 37:2. 2013.
Unlike the North – a term in vogue today, among others, for highlighting the difference between the rich, industrialised nations of mostly Western Europe, North America, Australasia, and the rudimentary economies of Latin America, Asia and Africa – underdevelopment, characterised by low income levels, poverty, low living standards and other socio-economic ills seem to be a defining feature of countries in these regions, collectively described as the Global South. Thomas (2003), Hershberg and Moreno-Brid(2003), and, Solimano(2005) suggest, for instance, that the socio - economic structure of most Latin American countries remains defined by vast inequalities in income and wealth distribution, poverty, volatile growth, high mortality rate and a high level of economic vulnerability. In Asia, a number of countries including the large economies of India and China have made improvements in the 21st century in terms of reducing poverty. Yet, 22% of the developing countries in Asia live on a dollar a day . The situation is bleaker in the South and Southeast Asia region where 38% leave on less than a dollar a day and over 48% of the population living below the regions individual country poverty line . Likewise, absolute poverty is on the rise in Africa - generally recognised as the world’s richest continent in terms of natural resources - despite a recorded decline in global poverty rates (Bhattacharyya: 2005).
Congo was an astounding bestseller novel. It was a great fictional novel that took place in the depths of the Congo rainforest. The novel was later made into a movie. Both the novel and the movie were good, however, I prefer the novel. It just seemed like a more entertaining piece than the movie. This movie was based much upon the novel, but had many alternatives and a completely different ending than the novel.
Economic ways started in the nineteenth century, still have a hold on the countries of the sub-Sahara today. These countries are all impoverished and have seen horrific civil wars, however, the general consensus is that they are making slow improvements in their economy. The starvation, overpopulation and health problems are still very evident. Perhaps continued assistance coupled with education and protection will keep them on the road to stability and more rewarding lives for their citizens.
At the same time that this is going on, the Congo is being ripped off of its natural resources. Coltan is very abundant in the Congo and highly in demand. Forests fauna and flora are being ruined in search for this precious metal at a rapid rate.We learned from Christian how bad things are escalating in the Congo: “I was just by Yaka-Yaka. When I was there six months ago, it was a forest filled with noisy birds, now it looks like God spooned out heaping mouthful of earth, and every stupid bastard is trying to get a taste of it. It’s been ugly chérie, but never like this. Not here.” Such a shame that such a beautiful place it is being destroyed and drained from all its riches, and that includes their animal life and
The history of the Belgian Congo is one of terrible sadness and seldom-noted human devastation. From 1885 to 1908 the Congo was ruled by one man as his sole, personal colony; a ruler ironically noted at the time for his philanthropy, King Leopold II of Belgium. Seeking his own colony, he founded the Congo Free State, a massive territory in the African interior that was larger than seventy-six times the size of his own country (Hochschild, 87). A “sober, respectable businessman” by the name of Edmund Dene Morel made a note of something about this colony that blew the cover of one of the largest collections of atrocities in human memory (Hochschild, 1). Working in Antwerp on business at the docks, he noticed that only soldiers were going towards the Congo while goods were being imported, a clear sign that no true legitimate trading was going on; he rightly deduced this to mean slavery (Hochschild, 2).
The Congo Crisis was a war of cultures between the US and the USSR. Despite the Soviet Union having some support within the Congo, the US was able to prevail and instill capitalism by taking more direct action in the Crisis and by ensuring the new leader of Mobutu was friendly to American interests. The Congo Crisis negatively affected decolonization by serving as an example of the failings of an independent state ran by Africans, despite a majority of problems coming from foreign influence. As a battle of the Cold War, the Congo acted as foreshadowing to the US success over the USSR and as proof to the West that capitalism was the best and foreign ideas were inferior, negatively affecting their opinions of other states for years to come.
This relates back to Congo, where violence spurred by ethnic rivalries is due to local groups’ desire to make money by getting into the extractive industries. In another example, Newmont, an American company, mines Ghanaian gold and pays the government part of the profits. Here, Burgis shined the spotlight on an environmental issue: the sodium cyanide spill in Kwamebourkrom that killed aquatic life and posed hazardous living conditions for locals (Burgis, 134). Finally, in the last few chapters, Burgis touched on Cecil John Rhodes’ legacy as the founder of De Beers, blood diamonds, imperialism, and violence carried out by local governments and mining companies in order to protect their interests.
... attention allowed economic exploitation in the Congo and its people devastated by human rights abuses, and even today the lack of international attention has caused many conflicts in and around the Congo. The economic exploitation of the Congo during colonial times robbed the country of wealth which could have been used to develop the land, and the lack of wealth has contributed to Congo’s poor standing in the world today. Lastly, the human rights abuses in the Congo Free State contributed to economic and political troubles during the colonial period and has continued into the present day, as human rights abuses are still prevalent in that region of Africa. Due to the lack of international attention, economic exploitation, and human rights abuses, the Congo Free State was harmful to the Congo region of Africa and its legacy continues to harm that region of Africa.
At the height of the conflict, about one third of the country's people were displaced. The chronic financial crisis became severe and the economy was close to collapsing. Poverty has become deeper in the rural areas of the Congo where poor people are now powerless, vulnerable and isolated. This is a big contributor to the poverty Congo is experiencing today, because little has improved and won’t improve until these problems are fixed. Overall, Central Africa’s dependence on agriculture could improve the wellbeing of the people but a long history of corruption, violence, and prevalent transportation issues have hindered an improvement in the economy resulting in poverty in the region.
When Congo gained its independence from Belgium it struggled to develop and remained a weak state. There were many factors that led to Congo being unable to progress and create strong institutions within its countries borders. “Political divisions along the ethnic lines were prevalent, though this fact could be misleading. Ethnicity became the primary source of political mobilization i...
Why nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, is a captivating read for all college economic courses. Coauthored by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, they optimistically attempt to answer the tough question of why some nations are rich and others are poor through political economic theories. They lay it all out in the preface and first chapter. According to Acemoglu and Robinson, the everyday United States citizen obtains more wealth than the every day Mexican, sub-Saharan African, Ethiopian, Mali, Sierra Leonne and Peruvian citizen as well as some Asian countries. The authors strategically arranged each chapter in a way that the reader, whomever he or she is, could easily grasp the following concept. Extractive nations that have political leadership and financial inconsistencies within their institutions are the largest contributor to poverty and despair within most countries. It also states that countries with socioeconomic institutions that work ‘for the people and by the people’, or in other words, focus on the internal agenda of that
Throughout this paper I am going to summarize Paul Colliers’s book, “The Bottom Billion”. Next, I will relate Collier’s argument to three key concepts; failed/failing states, Globalization, and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Secondly, I will critically evaluate three of the Collier’s weaknesses in his book. The first critique I have is his disbelief that democracy could fix the problem of corrupt governing in the bottom billion countries. The second critique that I have is his idea that military intervention is a necessity in order to get the bottom billion countries flourishing. My last critique is about his idea that the bottom billion countries constantly declining will directly correlate with our children in the United States facing an alarmingly divided world and all its consequences. Finally, I will conclude the book review and why I think his conclusion may be volatile.
I propose that the solution to the post-Civil War violence in Congo is to rid the country of all foreign nations and their problems, namely the Rwandans, and to get combatants inside the country to hold a summit and find a peaceful and fair resolution to the problem, with a superpower like the United States acting as host and mediator. Once all the quarrels are amended, the Congolese can start to focus on an economic strategy for rebuilding the country. Congo's Civil War began on November 2nd, 1998 when Laurent Kabila tried to drive out Rwandan militants who helped him overthrow Mobutu Sese Seko.2 Sese Seko came into power in 1966 when he led a rebellion to overthrow the government of Patrice Lumumbra Sese Seko led to Africanizing of the country by requiring that all citizens drop their Christian names, and by renaming all the geographical locations with more African names.3 During the 1980's Sese Seko's government received support from the United States, in response to communism's rising popularity in Africa. Because of the misuse of the funds and wealth generated by natural resources, the rich got richer and the poor fell farther into poverty. Sese Seko abused Congo's natural resources and eventually helped lead the country into a state of economic ruin. In 1997, Sese Seko was overthrown by Laurent Kabila.
Over a period from 1960-1965, the first Republic of the Congo experienced a period of serious crisis. There was a terrible war for power that displayed senseless violence and the desperation to rule. There were many internal conflicts among the people. The country eventually gained independence from Belgium. For many countries this would be a time for celebration. Unfortunately for the people of the Congo this became a time to forget. Almost immediately after independence and the general elections, the country went into civil war. Major developed cities like Katanga and Kasai wanted to be independent from the Lumumba government. Different factions started to fight the government and Katanga and Kasai tried to secede from the rest of the country out of fear of the mutinous army that was out of control looting and killing.
Throughout the chapter the text exerts more emphasis on the economical evaluation of a country's development rather than the alternative method. It begins to branch off quickly into the classification of countries deriving new topics all relating back to the economical approach. Beginning this discussion is the topic of underdevelopment.