Reconstructing the Congo

This article is a follow-up to an earlier article by the author, entitled ‘The Congo is back!’, in: Review of African Political Economy, vol. 24, no. 72 (1997), p. 277-286. It focuses on the ADFL’s (Alliance of Democratic Forces for the Liberation of the Congo) economic project and plans for reconstruction, paying attention to Mobutu’s economic legacy, the breaking of old monopolies (e.g. DeBeers’ dominance of diamond purchasing), Western and African governmental and private sector response to the Congo’s economic prospects, problems with planning due to the new government’s inexperience, and various proposed plans for economic reconstruction. It also discusses how Kabila’s ongoing dispute with the United Nations over human rights abuses during the ADFL advance may affect economic reconstruction, and how civil society is faring in the new period. Ref., sum.