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Country information
Full Country Name: The Republic of Congo
Area: 342,000 sq km (132,000 sq miles)
Population: 4 million (2005 est)
Capital City: Brazzaville (population: 1.2m)
People: 15 main Bantu groups, the largest being Bacongo, Vili, Bateke, M'Bochi, and Sangha. There are also over 70 subgroups and a small pygmy population.
Language(s): French (official), Lingala, Kikongo and Munukutuba (national)
Religion(s): traditional beliefs (50%), Roman Catholic (35%), other Christians (15%), Muslim (2%)
Currency: CFA Franc (fixed to euro)
Major political parties: The largest political party is the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). Other parties include the Pan-African Union for Social Democracy (UPADS), Congolese Movement for Democracy and Integral Development (MCDDI), Mouvement Action et Renouveau (MAR), Mouvement pour la Solidarité et le Développement (MSD) and Union pour la Démocratie et la République-Mwinda (UDR-Mwinda)
Head of State: President Denis Sassou-Nguesso
Membership of international groupings/organisations: African Development Bank (AFDB), Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), United Nations (UN), African Union(AU)
HEALTH
ECONOMY
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US$5.03 bn (2006 est)
GDP per head: US$1,400 (2006 est)
Annual GDP growth: 7.2% (2006 est)
Inflation: 5.8% (2006 est)
Major Industries: Petroleum, timber, phosphates, natural gas, coffee, sugar
Major trading partners: France, US, Belgium, UK, Italy, Germany, Taiwan, China
Exchange rate: 1 Euro = CFA 655.96 (fixed rate).
The economy remains dependent on oil although production peaked in 2000 at 283,000 bpd, at which point oil accounted for 95% of exports. After a dip in production, volumes were back up to 267,000 bpd by 2005, and are expected to reach some 278,000 bpd by 2008 following the entry into production of new discoveries. Short of new discoveries in deep and ultra-deep waters, production is likely to decline in the medium-term. The oil sector has long been dominated by the French company TotalFinaElf but many new players including US-based multinationals have entered the market in recent years. While the oil sector was largely insulated during the civil war, the rest of the economy was severely disrupted.
Successive post-independence governments have not been able to translate the oil dividend into improvements in living conditions for the population. The opaque workings of the national oil company, SNPC, were recently exposed in an independent audit carried out by KPMG. SNPC’s virtual control of the country’s finances and the lack of transparency in its operations were highlighted as major problems. The country’s long term practice of securing oil-backed commercial loans has left it highly indebted. But the government is now working with both the World Bank and the IMF towards structural reform, re-establishment of basic public services, and promotion of post-conflict recovery through macro-economic stabilisation. In December 2004, the IMF approved a first Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility for 3 years valued at US$84.4 million, and in March 2006 approved Congo’s attainment of the Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) decision point. With a small population and as an oil producer, Congo has never been a major recipient of donor aid, except from France.
IMF Country Reports: Republic of Congo
HISTORY
The first European contact with the country dates from the late 15th century. But it was not until 1880 that an explorer, Pierre de Brazza, concluded the treaties that secured the new territory as a colony for France. In 1910 the Republic of Congo became the administrative centre of the Federation of French Equatorial Africa (AEF). It achieved independence in August 1960.
The post-independence experience of civilian government was short-lived. In 1963 a one-party Marxist-Leninist state was introduced. In 1968 there was a military coup. For the next 24 years, there was a succession of military governments – led by Captain Ngouabi (1968-77), Colonel Yhombi-Opango (1977- 80) and Colonel Sassou-Nguesso (1980-92). All 3 military leaders hailed from the sparsely populated north of the country. The military continued to be guided by Marxism-Leninism with the sole legal party, the PCT, as the vanguard.
Following pressure for democratisation, Sassou-Nguesso agreed to a National Conference which produced a new multi-party constitution, endorsed in a referendum in 1992. Elections followed. In the Presidential election, Pascal Lissouba of UPADS won with 61.37% of the vote beating his nearest rival Bernard Kolelas of MDCCI. Sassou-Nguesso of the PCT came a poor third in the first round. UPADS and the MCDDI, representing the centre-south and south respectively, also won the majority of seats in both the National Assembly and Senate, leaving the PCT poorly represented. The power shift destabilised the country. Conflict between the Army (the old regime’s power base) and militias sponsored by the political parties (PCT, UPADS and MCDDI) broke out. Some 2,000 deaths were reported in the second half of 1993. The militias were not disbanded despite a peace agreement.
Civil war broke out 1 month before the next elections, scheduled for July 1997. It continued for 5 months causing thousands of deaths, displaced populations and refugees together with the destruction of the infrastructure and damage to other key assets. The civil war was finally settled when Angola lent its military support to Sassou-Nguesso. After gaining military supremacy in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire, Sassou-Nguesso returned to power proclaiming himself President. The ousted President Lissouba and Prime Minister Kolelas fled. The planned elections did not take place, the constitution was suspended and a 3-year transitional arrangement was put in place.But the militias fought on sporadically for another 2 years. Some 700,000 Congolese from the south were displaced by the conflict. A fragile peace agreement was reached in November 1999. In the same month, warrants for the arrest of Lissouba and Kolelas were issued. They were tried in absentia for treason and sentenced to death.
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Sassou-Nguesso has very close relations with Angola which intervened decisively in the 1997-99 civil war. Congo has traditional ties with neighbouring Gabon, where the same ethnic groups are separated by the common border. President Sassou-Nguesso's daughter is married to President Bongo of Gabon. The traditionally poor relations with neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have improved in recent years, although tensions remain. Congo, Angola and DRC now cooperate closely on border security. The Congo’s closest relationships are within the CEMAC grouping although President Sassou-Nguesso has also built alliances across the continent, developing contacts with Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa. President Sassou-Nguesso was elected as Chairman of the African Union in January 2006 for 1 year.
France is Congo's primary international partner, and the strongest supporter of the Sassou-Nguesso government. French companies retain significant investments in most sectors, most significantly in the oil industry. The expatriate population before the civil war of 1997 was 8,500, mostly French, although it may have halved since. While the majority of Congolese exports, largely oil, go to China (30%), the US (18.2%) and Taiwan (16.8%), France occupies top place as a supplier of the country’s imports. It is also the single largest bilateral aid donor.
On 9 July 2004, Congo was expelled from the Kimberley Process, an international diamond trading initiative established to counter trade in illicit “conflict diamonds”. Congo was expelled for failing to give an acceptable reason for why its exports far exceeded its known production. At that time, Congo’s domestic production was 55,000 carats but it exported 5.2 million carats.The Kimberley Process accounts for 98% of global diamond trade, and expulsion meant that Congo lost out on US$300m per annum of revenue. Congo was readmitted in 2007 after convincing the Kimberley Secretariat that it was undertaking necessary reforms.
About the Kimberley process
Congo's Relations with the UK
Diplomatic Representation
The UK is represented in the Republic of Congo by HE Nick Kay, resident in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The Republic of Congo is represented in the UK by HE Monsieur Henri Marie Joseph Lopes, resident in Paris, France.
Visits
There have been no recent bilateral visits.
GEOGRAPHY
Congo is twice the size of the United Kingdom and is covered mostly by rainforest. It is bordered by the Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon, the Central African Republic, Cameroon, and the Angolan enclave of Cabinda. Brazzaville, the capital of Republic of Congo, is on the opposite bank of the Congo River from Kinshasa, the capital of DRC. The main port, Pointe Noire, is the centre of the offshore oil industry, linked to Brazzaville by rail and road.
TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Trade and Investment with the UK
Increasing numbers of British nationals are working in the offshore oil fields. UK exports to Republic of Congo were worth £26.89 million in 2006. Congo's exports to the UK in 2006 were worth £9.74 million in the same year. There is no UK bilateral aid programme.
Burren Energy is the largest British investor in Congo, undertaking oil exploration operations in the coastal region of the country.
Development
Congo is one of the most urbanised countries in Africa, with over 66% living in towns. Approximately 70% of the population live in poverty. The Republic of Congo was ranked 139 out of 177 countries in the 2007 UNDP Human Development Index. Life expectancy is 52.8 and 49% of the population do not have access to an improved water source. Infant mortality rates are estimated at 93.86 deaths/1,000 live births. In 2003 the adult HIV infection rate was estimated at 4.9%, with 100,000 deaths from the disease in the same year. Congo used to have one of the most developed education systems in Africa, reflecting its historic role as the capital of French Equatorial Africa. But, primary education attendance dropped from 90% in 1990 to 40% in 2000, though 83.8% of the population were estimated to be literate. The civil war caused huge social disruption, when an estimated 35% of the population were displaced. Social services suffered accordingly.
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
World Bank
POLITICS
A new constitution, reaffirming the multi-party system was adopted in 2001 and endorsed by a referendum in January 2002. This provided for a strong Executive President, with a limit of 2 terms, but it increased the term length from 5 to 7 years. But the checks and balances between the executive and the legislature written into the 1992 constitution were lost. It also provides for a bicameral legislature elected every 5 years for the 137-member National Assembly, and 6 years for the upper house, the 66-member Senate. While retaining the principle of multiparty politics, the constitution banned parties organised on regional, ethnic or religious lines - in recognition of the damage caused by ethno-regional parties in the 1992-97 period.
Presidential elections were subsequently held in March 2002. They were managed by the Ministry of the Interior rather than an independent electoral commission. Most of the key candidates were either banned or withdrew at the last minute. This left Sassou-Nguesso to win virtually unopposed with 89% of the vote. The Legislative elections which followed in May and June brought a massive majority in the National Assembly for the PCT and its allies – together winning 117 out of 137 seats. There had been an almost total boycott by the opposition. The manipulation of the process, noted by EU and other Observers, provoked militias from the south to restart their insurgency. A fragile peace agreement was signed in March 2003, and exiled former Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas returned to the country in October 2005. In January 2005, President Sassou-Nguesso appointed a new government made up exclusively of members of the PCT. The next presidential election is due in 2009.
BBC Africa Country Profile: Republic of Congo
BBC News: Africa
HUMAN RIGHTS
The human rights record of the Sassou-Nguesso government remains problematic. The security services are reported to be responsible for beatings, arbitrary arrest, looting and rape. Impunity is pervasive, and prison conditions are reported to be harsh. The judiciary is subject to political direction. Congo has 3 independent human rights organisations but the government is strongly intolerant of their reporting. The independent press is also less free and more controlled by the state than it was in the early 1990s. The trial of officers accused of involvement in the alleged massacre of more than 350 refugees at the Brazzaville river port in May 1999 – the ‘Beach affair’ - is ongoing at the Brazzaville Criminal Court.
Human Rights
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Travel Advice: Democratic Republic of Congo
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See Also
Useful Links
- BBC Africa Country Profile: Republic of Congo
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BBC News: Africa
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IMF Country Reports: Republic of Congo
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United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
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World Bank
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Contacts
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