Democratic Republic Of Congo Essay

Introduction:

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is a mineral rich country in the heart of southern Africa once controlled by Belgium. The division of land under the Berlin Conference in 1884 formed the Congo Free State, an area privately owned by Belgian corporations. After reports of abusive actions by these corporations, Belgium formally took control of what would be known as the Belgian Congo between 1908 and 1960 (Briticanna, 2014). Belgium adopted a paternalistic attitude with its colony. This meant that Africans were to be treated as children and carefully overseen. Congolese could be used as tax collectors or to gather labor, but were excluded from the legislative process. After World War 1 many corporations invested in the

The country has an economy, education system, and demographics shaped by colonial rule. The economy of the DRC has the potential to be a very robust system. It is a large country, with a large population, and numerous natural resources. Due to its colonial occupation, the country has corruption prevalent in the government, which greatly limits its economic activity. This ensures that a large percentage of the population remains in poverty. The country’s economic system is also very poor. Teachers are in high demand especially in rural parts of the country, but are not paid a decent wage and are therefore difficult to recruit. Classroom conditions are often very poor and lack the necessities of a decent education. The demographics of the country are that many diverse ethnic groups are part of one nation. This has been a large issue, as the groups don’t share a similar culture or language. This leads to conflicts and wars throughout the region. The positive of colonialism is that various religions have been able to spread throughout the region. The negatives greatly outweigh the one positive of the colonial legacy. The presence of the Belgians in the DRC greatly weakened the region and brought about many of the issues that are prevalent