Introduction

71% of the country's population lives in absolute poverty, with no access to clean drinking water, education, medical attention, and even very scarce access to food. Prior to 1960, the Congo was a colony of Belgium, and was actually making progress to becoming a developing economy. The Democratic Republic of the Congo sits on top of a treasure chest of natural resources like precious metals, diamonds, oil, and natural gas. So, where did this all go so wrong? This country had a lot going for it, and while it is hard to say, there was no reason to believe that the nation could not have developed as many other economies did during the 1960s and onwards.