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“The Congo sits in the center of Africa and when you have no infrastructure in the DRC, you hamper the whole process of trade between other African countries.”
The Democratic Republic of Congo is about 2.5 million km2. This is slightly more than the combined land areas of Spain, Germany, France, Sweden and Norway. DR Congo is the second largest country in Africa. The most important being Algeria.
The capital of DR Congo is Kinshasa which is located to the west, on the border with the neighboring Republic of Congo or Congo Brazzaville, as it is sometimes called. Bukavu is the provincial capital of South Kivu which lies to the east, near the borders of Rwanda and Burundi. The distance between the 2 cities of Kinshasa and Bukavu is 2,494 km which is slightly less than the distance between London and Moscow.
Congo is ranked among the 3 worst cases of national infrastructure deficit in the world. The other 2 cases are Yemen and the Central African Republic which is considered to have the highest level of extreme poverty in the world.
It is not possible to cross the DR Congo by road or rail. There is no infrastructure connecting Kinshasa to the eastern regions. It is not possible to travel from Bukavu to Kinshasa by road or rail. It is not possible to travel by road or rail from Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu to Bukavu, the provincial capital of South Kivu. It is also not possible to travel south from Goma or Bukavu to Bunia, the provincial capital of Ituri.
A road is defined by its composition which is paved. The inhabitants of eastern Congo take “tracks” which turn into mud and become impassable. The only other means of transportation is the plane which is unaffordable for 99% of the population.
Lack of infrastructure and energy causes poverty
Despite Congo’s natural resources, which are more diverse and abundant than in any other country on Earth, the Congolese live with some of the highest levels of abject poverty in the world, to which we can also add alarming malnutrition and food insecurity and increasing.
“The really basic need of the people of Congo, and eastern Congo in particular, is infrastructure. This basic need, besides insecurity, because we know that trade is not possible when there is no peace, but we have an urgent need, the people, as a nation, need infrastructure. If you don’t have roads, you can’t develop an agricultural sector. If you don’t have a railroad, how can you move goods from one part of the province to another, or from one province to another?
“The entire cost of living and the poverty to which the Congolese are subjected are linked to the lack of infrastructure.
“How can you establish a manufacturing sector when you don’t have electricity? And that has really been a really big deal to try to solve the food shortage problem in DRC, because when you don’t have electricity, how do you deal with agricultural products?! ”
Building infrastructure is the most important humanitarian aid
“Speaking of the DRC, I really appreciate that aid NGOs are working on the ground and helping people and the funding that is provided to them, but personally I think what we need is not humanitarian aid. . We need infrastructure. Because humanitarian aid will make you depend on the donor. But if you have the infrastructure, you are able to build your future, you are able to do something for a living, not for a day or two weeks or a month but for a year for years. So I think the basic need we have is infrastructure. We need roads, we need railways, we need electricity in the countryO. ”
Food shortage and child malnutrition are caused by lack of infrastructure
“If we have roads, malnutrition, food shortages cannot be encountered in DRC. People will be able to transport their goods, maize, cassava, potatoes from one region to another. It is a very fertile country where anything can grow. The cost of air travel, which is the only option for most areas, makes the cost of food, such as potatoes, too expensive to be affordable. The whole issue of food shortage and malnutrition in the DRC is linked to the lack of infrastructure. , lack of roads, lack of railways, lack of electricity.
AfCFTA: a chain is as strong as the weakest link
“The Congo sits in the center of Africa and when you have no infrastructure in the DRC, you hamper the whole process of trade between other African countries. For example: when you look at this map, where you see Tanzania, you cannot ship goods from Tanzania to Congo Brazzaville because for that you have to go through the DRC! Unless you can do it by boat but if you want to use the roads you cannot because there is no infrastructure in the DRC. And this has hampered the whole development process of the region itself and the continent as a whole. The lack of infrastructure in the DRC affects the whole region and the whole continentt.
End insecurity by building infrastructure
“EThe problem of wars and insecurity in Congo is not primarily the problem of the Congolese themselves. It is the business of multinationals who want to control minerals. For us to have the end of the war in the DRC, multinationals have a role to play. But we must also recognize that the people on the ground are the ones carrying out this mission in order to control the minerals in the DRC. And the fact that they don’t work, that they don’t have a job, that they have no other way to make a living, they always become a potential target for the multinational companies that use them. , because they have nothing else to do to earn a living. So when you build roads in Congo, eastern Congo, Goma, Bukavu, Ituri and other provinces; when you build railways, when you set up manufacturing systems in the DRC, it is obvious that these infrastructures will create jobs for the population. And these young people will find themselves working, having another way of earning a living. They cannot therefore be easily recruited to go and fight or wage war in the country.
So I really believe that the physical economy, the development of infrastructure, is also a key element that we must implement in the DRC if we want to end the war in the DRC. Because if these multinational companies come and want to create a war in a region because they want to control the minerals and they have no support on the ground, it is going to be difficult for them to do so. Building the physical economy is therefore essential to bring stability to Congo and the region. “
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