Democratic Republic of the Congo: The next emerging economy?

With positive macroeconomic indicators, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is aspiring to be an emerging country by 2030. To achieve this goal, the country appears to be more willing to implement significant reforms.

During his last visit to the DRC in March 2015, IMF deputy managing director David Lipton said he was impressed by the country’s economic progress over the past five years. This is fair; despite a difficult security environment, the country has managed to increase its average growth rate from 2.8% in 2009 to 8.7% in 2014, recording the third fastest growth rate in the world this year.

After Outside Pressure, Rebels in Congo Lay Down Their Arms

Col. Mamadou Moustafa stood at the front lines of the battle for eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, surveying his soldiers fighting to dislodge rebels from the surrounding hills.

Pete Muller for The New York Times

Congolese children played on a rebel tank on Tuesday near Kibumba, the site of heavy fighting between the army and rebels.

“We are fighting because we want to overcome the humiliation of both the Congolese Army and the international community,” he said recently in a Congolese town. “We are ready to die.”

A Reason for Hope in Congo’s Perpetual War

Rocket after rocket ripped across the sky. By Saturday evening, after two straight days of pitched battle with artillery, tanks and mortars, the Congolese Army had driven the M23 rebels out of the strategic town of Kibumba.

Peter Muller for The New York Times.

Momentum Shifts in Congo’s Battle Against Rebels: Until last summer, rebels had the upper hand in their battle against the Congolese government. But the government, backed by the United Nations, has brought new leadership and vigor to the fight.

“We are victorious,” sang ecstatic soldiers from the back of a truck as dusk fell. “We are the winners.”

Eastern Congo’s M23 rebels threaten to fight new UN brigade due to arrive in coming months

Rebels in eastern Congo said Tuesday they are getting ready to fight a new United Nations brigade that will be allowed for the first time to pursue armed groups.

Jerome Delay, File/Associated Press - FILE In this Dec. 1, 2012 file photo, M23 rebels withdraw from the eastern Congo town of Goma. Rebels in eastern Congo warned Tuesday, April 30, 2013, that they’re getting ready to fight against a new United Nations brigade due to arrive in the coming months. The threat comes as peace talks appear to have reached a dead end between the rebels and the Congolese government. The U.N. 

The U.N. peacekeepers are set to arrive in the coming months, with a mandate that goes beyond merely protecting civilians.

Rebels seize strategic Congolese city, as U.N. forces watch helplessly

Rebel forces in Congo on Tuesday seized control of Goma, a strategic provincial capital in the nation’s resource-rich east, despite the presence of U.N. peacekeepers in the area. The takeover sent tens of thousands fleeing and triggered fears of a regional conflict, according to officials and witnesses.

PHIL MOORE/AFP/GETTY IMAGES - M23 rebels stand at a small base in the hills of Kanyarucinya on the outskirts of Goma, in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on Nov. 19, 2012.

“The atmosphere in the city is tense, people are worried,” Grace Tang, head of mission in Goma for the aid group Doctors Without Borders, said in a statement before the takeover. “The fighting that for months has forced hundreds of thousands to flee their homes elsewhere in the region has now reached Goma’s doorstep.”