Congo with $24 Trillion in Mineral Wealth BUT still Poor

Congo has the resources to develop itself. Here's a recipe for development. Just stop the fighting then add some democracy, knowledge, and transparency.

According to last month’s edition of African Business magazine, the total mineral wealth of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is estimated to be $24 trillion – equivalent to the GDP of Europe and the United States combined.

The DRC has the world’s largest reserves of cobalt and significant quantities of the world’s diamonds, gold and copper. This makes the DRC potentially the richest country in the world.

But this central African country has been ranked among the poorest and most underdeveloped countries on this planet.

A recent report aired on the BBC talked of a campaign to stop the production of what can be termed as “blood mobile phones”.

The DRC’s coltan has been identified as one of the leading causes of the conflict in the eastern part of the country, and attempts are being made to ensure that mobile phone manufacturers stop using coltan that is sourced there.

Of course, it is highly unlikely that DRC will emerge as a developed country once the fighting stops.

Fonte: http://www.newsaboutcongo.com/2009/03/congo-with-24-trillion-in-mineral-wealth-but-still-poor.html.