History of the Democratic Republic of Congo (Part II)

From Patrice Lumumba, the Mobutu Coup, the Congo Wars, The Kabila's, and the recent President

If you want to see Part I on Congo: The Kongo Kingdoms, King Leopold, and Belgian Congo, click here:

Congo’s Income per Person, inflation adjusted in USD. Calculations based on taking World Bank per-capita GDP data in USD then I inflation adjusted it for 2022 dollars. Congolese living standards have diminished form making $2000 to $3500 per year to almost $600 per year.

Patrice Lumumba (1960), Republic of Congo-Leopoldville, The Congo Crisis

“Can’t we get rid of the guy?” — President Eisenhower of United States, who was referring to the first Prime Minister of Congo, Patrice Lumumba

As mentioned last time, due to Congo’s inexperience in government, after independence, the government made a “treaty of friendship with Belgium”. Belgium army personnel & civil servants remained until the Congolese personnel could be trained to take over.

After mistreatment in an army exercise, the black Congolese army rebelled against the White Belgian army, Force Publique, leading to violence and attack on the white Belgians. In response, Belgium occupied the nation, sent troops to protect its fleeing citizens, and covertly funded secessionist movements in an attempt to install a pro-Belgium government. These movements included the Katanga secessionist group rich in uranium, diamonds, and copper, as well as the diamond-rich South Kasai secessionist group.

Lumumba’s government in Stanleyville faced internal challenges, including a disorganized army, massacres, and dwindling exports that left the country financially strained. Patrice Lumumba blamed Belgium for their obvious conspiratorial planning, kicked out the Belgium military, and appointed Joseph Mobutu as army Chief of Staff (more on him later).

Lumumba sought help from the United States and the United Nations to quell the secessionist movements and remove Belgium's influence. However, Belgium labeled Lumumba as a communist, discouraging Eisenhower to support Lumumba (Lumumba was a socialist but not a commie).

Also, the United Nations Security Council was focused more on “peacekeeping” then fighting the secessionist groups. The UN focused on filling the vacant public administration in Congo: running hospitals, airfields, banking, police, and etc. The UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld (Dag Hamma-shold) refused to attack Belgian troops or quell internal Congolese matters. He saw Katanga’s secession an internal matter for Congo despite evidence of Belgium’s meddling.

Lumumba was irate with the lack of progress quelling the rebellion, and was bewildered by the deluge of problems that confronted his government. He then asked for Soviet support from Khrushchev. Lumumba used Soviet support to attack secessionist groups on the South Kasai and kill 3K (mainly Luba) people. 250K Kasai people became refugees. The fact that Lumumba used Soviet weapons and had Soviet advisors made US President Eisenhower fear that Lumumba would become an African Fidel Castro. The USA put Patrice on the CIA “Communist kill list”.

The atrocity in South Kasai and Lumumba’s (understandably) angry attitude made people in Lumumba’s government lose faith in Lumumba to control the situation. Prime Minister Joseph Kasa-Vubu and Joseph Mobutu, Lumumba’s Chief of Staff for the military, broke away from Lumumba and formed another government in Leopoldville (modern day Kinshasa). Kasa-Vubu and Mobutu worked with the CIA, United Nations, and US drive out Soviet personnel and crush Lumumba’s government. Lumumba and his followers were on house arrest.

Joseph Kasa-Vubu (1960-1965), The Democratic Republic of Congo

After Kasa-Vubu was recognized as President, Lumumba escaped to Stanleyville to make a new secessionist government there.

Congo was divided. Soviet backed Lumumba was Red, American backed Kasa-Vubu & Mobutu is Blue, Katanga & South Kasai, initially funded by Belgium Green

Mobutu, Kasa-Vubu, the Belgians, and Americans crushed the Lumumba government and Stanleyville and captured Lumumba. Lumumba was murdered by Belgians and Congo secessionist after being hacked into pieces, dissolved into sulphuric acid, and burned by fire in January 1961. All that remained was a tooth of Lumumba which was given as a memento to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2022.

In November 1961, The UN Security Council passed a resolution rejecting Katanga’s independence.

Kasa-Vubu & Mobutu then asked the UN, who now has a new secretary general, to help them crush rebels in Katanga & South Kasai rebels and Lumumbist avengers in Kwilu in 1963. Then the U.S. and Belgium helped Kasa-Vubu kill Communist “Simba” rebels in 1964. Kasa-Vubu renamed “Republic of Congo” (Leopoldville) to “Democratic Republic of Congo”

In 1965, Joseph Kasa-Vubu had a power struggle between him and his premier Moise Tshombe. Mobutu removed Kasa-Vubu in a coup, hung Kasa-Vudu’s ministers in front of the Congolese people, became president, and banned all political parties.

Mobutu Sese Seko (1965-1997), Zaire

“At the beginning, we thought Mobutu (former President) was the only person who could lead Zaire (Democratic Republic of Congo), We thought he had the talent, capacity and intelligence. . . . Then he changed. He just wanted the money, from wherever he could get it--private companies, foreign governments. He had no feeling for financial policy, but it didn’t matter. He knew the money would keep on coming.” —- Leo Tindemans, the former prime minister of Belgium, Zaire’s onetime colonial master.

By 1965, Joseph Mobutu assumed despotic power with CIA and Belgian support. Mobutu’s had a cultural revolution, called “Authencity”, renaming the country to Zaire in 1971 and renamed cities including Leopoldville to Kinshasa. Mobutu made all Zairians adopt African names and Joseph Mobutu renamed himself to his birth name “Mobutu Seke Seko”. He received financial support from successive American, Belgian, and French governments due to his anti-communist stance, which was aimed at countering Cuban funded Marxist rebel groups in Congo. Soviet influence in Angola, and resist Gaddafi of Libya’s expansionism in trying to annex Chad. Once the cold war ended, he was cut off.

Mobutu with Richard Nixon in 1973. Nixon gave Mobutu $100M+ in loan guarantees for mining projects.

Mobutu’s Economic policy: Nationalization, International Copper Cartel, Corruption

Under Mobutu, he did Lumumba’s policy of forcefully nationalizing the Belgian mining firm, Mining Union of Upper Katanga, and turned it into the government owned firm Gécamines. The economy initially thrived with high copper prices (1965: copper was $.45 per kg, 1973: copper was $.9 per kg) and foreign investment rose. Financed by the World Bank and U.S. Export-Import bank, Mobutu executed infrastructure projects including a steel mill, a Congo River hydroelectric dam, hospitals, and a power line from Inca to Katanga.

Mobutu joined an international copper cartel (think of Organization of Petroleum Countries - OPEC, but with copper) with Zambia, Peru and Chile.

When copper prices declined in 1973 , Mobutu not only nationalized the copper industry and forcefully seized the 2000 foreign owned firms (except American ones) and land in Zaire — “The Zairization Program”. Greek, Pakistani and Jewish small scale businesses forcefully taken and given to Zairians to run the small businesses. But private foreign enterprises were now controlled by the government, affectively owned by Mobutu and his inner clique, making them amass wealth. The land was disproportionally owned by his family members and friends. By giving other government officials avenue to loot funds as well, Mobutu was able to stay in power. Mobutu looted his nation’s treasury to amass anywhere from $50M to $5B throughout his rule. He had a lavish townhouse in Paris, a 32-room estate in Lausanne, Switzerland, and a 16th century castle in Valencia, Spain. He also had estates in Italy, Portugal, Ivory Coast and Senegal. Forbes listed him as one the world’s richest dictators.

Mobutu became the largest shareholder of the Kinshasa Bank, where all of the government firms held their accounts, as well as owning the Zairian operations of ITT-Bell, Zaire Fiat Chrysler, Zaire Gulf, Zaire Pan Am, Zaire Renault, Zaire Peugeot, Zaire Volkswagen, and Zaire Unilever. Through buying foreign owned firms without compensating them at market rate, western foreign investment fell. If a western private business wanted to do business in Zaire, they had to give a kickback to the president.

Investment dropped after Mobutu forcefully gave the Western firms based in Congo to his cronies.

Mobutu’s inner clique, “Les Grosses Legumes” or “The Big Vegetables”, were not good businessmen, the firms fell in production and lost value. Foreign investors started to leave.

By 1975, Australia, Yugoslavia, Papua new Guinea, and Indonesia also joined the international copper cartel (CIPEC). After the Vietnam war ended in 1975, copper prices declined from $1 per kg to $.5 per kg, which meant less foreign currency for Zaire came in. When less foreign currency comes in, the central bank can’t maintain the exchange rate, leading to currency devaluation and massive inflation. The CIPEC cartel was unable to coordinate to raise prices because copper isn’t as inelastic as oil is. Copper has many substitutes, for example, in electrical wiring, aluminum can be used instead of copper, for plumbing pipes, plastic can be an alternative, and for roofing, zinc can be used as a roofing material. When the copper cartel tried to raise the price, the commodity buyers would buy alternatives. Meanwhile, in the 1970s oil was super vital and oil’s price was inelastic. When, the Arab states embargoed the West for helping Israel in the Yom Kippur war, the West still needed oil, and oil prices ratcheted. The Copper cartel failed because copper isn’t as price inelastic as oil, copper has way more substitutes. Even today, oil is ten fold larger than copper demand. As of 2021, Oil is a nearly $950 market while copper is nearly $90B.

Due the failure of the copper cartel to control copper prices and Mobutu’s cronies being bad business men who stripped the assets instead of investing, Mobutu acknowledged that his Zairianization plan failed. So he made a new plan called “retrocession”, where he would make joint-venture firms with the formerly exiled Europeans investors, some foreign investment came in but it was not nearly as much as pre-Zaireanization (see chart above).

Since foreign investment was not as strong as before, Mobutu became a beggar on the international market applied for debt relief from the Paris Club and started to depend more on aid and loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF, World Bank, and Paris Club required cut spending, raise taxes, lay off civil servants, let the currency free float, and most importantly, privatize state owned firms, which would threaten Mobutu’s power, since his power is based on his government controlling industry and giving business to his inner clique. Mobutu would take the loan, do partial reforms, and then purposely use his government institutions to sabotage economic reform, that way Mobutu can get the loans while not privatizing his crony state-owned enterprises.

By 1976, DRC took its first IMF loan and would continue borrowing over $1B over a span of 11 loans until 1990. Barely any of the IMF loans was invested in infrastructure and most of the IMF plans were not followed through. Government workers were sporadically paid. By 1988, the Copper cartel was officially disbanded. In 1991, Zaire owed $10.7B, he defaulted on his payment for not paying the $3.45B due in 1992.

After the Soviet Union died in 1991 and split into 15 different countries, Bush I and Clinton changed the foreign policy from “anti-communism” to “supporting democracy”. Aid to Mobutu used to be lenient in the cold war, but in the post-cold war era, aid was conditional for democratic and anti-corruption reforms. For example, the World Bank couldn’t account for a missing $400M in mineral exports from Zaire, and the World Bank & IMF officially cut off lending to Zaire in 1994. By the 90s, Mobutu allowed multi-party democracy in Zaire, which led to strong condemnation of Mobutu in Zaire.

Rwanda Genocide (1994) & The 1st Congo War (1996-1997)

Hutu extremists, led by Mobutu's ally President Habyarimana of Rwanda, killed 1M Tutsis and non-extremist Hutus. Tutsi-led Rwanda Patriotic Front, led by Paul Kagame, took power after the genocide. Kagame's forces also killed Hutu-President Habyarimana. About 1M Hutu refugees fled to Eastern Congo, including extremist orchestrators. Some used Congo as a base to attack Rwanda, supported by Mobutu. Kagame asked Mobutu for help, but he refused. In fact, Mobutu also killed Congolese Tutsis in East Congo. Kagame, his ally in Uganda, Yoweri Museveni and Jose Santos of Angola, who wanted revenge on Mobutu for trying to kill him in the Angola war, invaded Congo to neutralize extremist Hutu threats, while supporting Laurent Kabila, a Congo rebel, to overthrow Mobutu. By 1996, Kabila started his campaign to Zaire and overthrew Mobutu by 1997. He died later that year. By 1997, Congo was half as poor then it started at independence. In 1960, Congolese people had higher averages incomes than India, Nigeria, and China. By 1997, Congolese were 3x poorer than Indians, 3.5x poorer than Nigerians, and 6x poorer than Chinese.

Laurent Kabila (1997-2001), Democratic Republic of Congo

Kabila restored Zaire’s name, Democratic Republic of Congo. Western nations, led by Bill Clinton of US, offered development aid, but Kabila did not trust the West. Kabila also became a dictator, arrested his opposition, crushed & arrested political parties, stopped elections, and quickly became hated by the Congolese people. He also refused to make payments on his gigantic, $14B foreign debt incurred by his predecessor Mobutu (Congo’s GDP at 1997 was only $6B). As a result, his government couldn’t run budget deficits and borrow money to make roads or import food for his people since his government couldn’t be trusted to pay back debts. Corruption was still rampant, People in Congo were starving and inflation was wild, and new rebel movements formed in East Congo to depose Kabila.

The Second Congo War (1998-2003)

Kabila, now Congo’s president, severed ties with Rwanda and Uganda fearing they wanted to use him as a puppet so Rwanda and Uganda could annex the mineral rich Congo regions. Cross border clashes with Rwanda and Uganda fueled tensions. So Kagame of Rwanda and Museveni of Uganda invaded Congo again to protect their nations, with the help of Burundi and Congo rebels in East and North. Kabila got help from Angola, Namibia, Chad, Sudan, and Zimbabwe. Betrayal and illegal mineral mining fueled anarchy, leading to the deadliest war on the planet since WW2. 5.4M died and another 5M displaced. By 2001, Lauren was shot and killed by a bodyguard.

Joseph Kabila (2001-2019)

Joseph, Laurent’s son, led a transitional government from 2001 and became president in a democratic election in 2006. . He collaborated with Kagame to combat Hutu militias. Unfortunately, by 2012 a new rebel group emerged called M23, became active in East Congo.

Kabila improved relationships with the West and got aid from the IMF and World Bank, and actually followed through on IMF reforms once they received $420M. Inflation reduced and new investment came in. His family siphoned millions and changed the constitution to extend his term. His administration was caught by the US Justice Department in a bribery scheme with the American hedge fund, Och-Ziff Capital management in illegal mineral deals with Congolese officials.

In 2007 & 2008, Joseph Kabila negotiated with China in his infrastructure for minerals deal. Congo gets 2000 miles of roads, 31 hospitals, 145 health centers, two large universities, 5000 government housing units, schools, bridges, power plants, and etc. for shipping 10M tons of copper and 600K tons of cobalt to China, which China needs to industrialize its impoverished western provinces.

By 2015, China has built soccer stadiums, water treatment facilities, and roadways. Also China gave scholarships to Congolese students. China’s Nonferrous Metal Mining Group and Zijin Mining were developing the Deziwa site and Kolwezi copper and cobalt mines. Also by 2016, Chinese firms started to buy out American, Canadian, and European stakes in Congo’s cobalt & copper mines. No American firm has a mine in Congo anymore as of 2023. The last American firm, Freeport-McMoRan Inc, sold its stake in DRC’s Tenke mine for $2.65B to China’s firm Molybdenum (CMOC). This was apparently done due to a need to pay down debt(find out more here). China owns most of the mines with the Congo government.

Lastly, Kabila made special economic zones to encourage foreign direct investment in agriculture in Kinshasa, mining in Katanga, and cement in Bas-Congo.

In terms of Western ownership, the shady, corrupt Swiss commodities and mining giant, Glencore owns 3/4ths of the Kamoto Copper Company mine and 100% owns the Mutanda copper & cobalt mine, after increasing stakes since 2007. Luxembourg’s Eurasian Resource Group, Australia’s Tiger Resources, and Canada’s Ivanhoe Mines also split ownership of mines with the Congolese government and/or Chinese firm. There’s also the Israeli firm DGI, which has invested in industrial mining facilities in the DRC.

Felix Tshisekedi (2019- Present)

Felix won in 2018 (with voter fraud), resulting in the first peaceful transfer of power since independence. This man wants to make big changes to Congo.

Formalize Artisanal mining: Tshisekedi made an initiative to formalize artisanal mining in his first year in office so artisanal miners can get helmets, mining equipment, access to capital, and regulations for better wage in the Congo government owned company called “Entreprise Générale du Cobalt”. However, this policy is still in its conceptual phase. So far, United Arab Emirates has created a joint venture (55% UAE owned, 45% Congolese) that employs formerly artisinal miners.

More Chinese Investment: He wants to renegotiate its $6B Chinese “roads for infrastructure” deal. In February 2023, the Congo’s state office of Inspection General Finances asked for an additional $17B in infrastructure from China. So far, Sicomines has invested $822M in infrastructure projects in Congo, despite earning $10B in extracts over the past 10 years. Congo has now removed Sicomines’ tax exemption. The deal is that China can own a majority stake in the mines as long as China’s Sinohydro Corp, Power Construction Corp of China, and China’s Railway Group build more roads and hospitals in Congo. China’s Sicomines says that this criticism is unjustified and has threatened to leave which would deplete Congolese incomes.

Lithium exploration: Congo is also letting China’s Zijin Mining & Australian firm AVZ minerals explore for lithium in Congo.

As of 2021, Congo is fighting against a rebel group in Eastern Congo called, M23. The group originated in 2012, and Congo and the UN defeated the group in 2013. The organization revived and is wreaking havoc in East Congo. The Congo government claims that are backed by Rwanda, but President Kagame and M23 itself deny this and says the Congo government backs rebel groups themselves (i.e. the Rwanda argues that Congo backs the rebel group - “Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda” which has its leadership filled with Hutu leaders who committed the genocide on Rwandans in the 1990s.) The M23 group has killed some Congolese and also displaced 7 million from their homes. The Biden administration believes Congo over Rwanda. Congo wants the US to put economic sanctions on Rwanda. Biden has not made a decision.

There is also an ISIS affiliated rebel group that was kicked out of Uganda called the “Allied Democratic Forces” which mass murder people in East Congo.

M23 is just one of the many rebel groups in Congo that take gold, diamonds, and copper from the resource rich regions.

The US Treasury department claims that they have traced M23 funding to Rwandan officials in the Rwandan Defense Force.

Since the Congo wars, Congo is growing again, but adjusted for inflation, the country is poorer than it was at independence. Is there hope for Congo?

Sources:

Kongo, Luba, and Luanda Kingdoms, King Leopold’s Rule, and Belgian Congo:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2641&context=honorstheses1990-2015

Lumumba, Kasavubu, and Mobutu:
https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/master/frd/frdcstdy/za/zairecountrystud00medi_0/zairecountrystud00medi_0.pdf

Book: “Cobalt Red” by Siddarth Kara, Senior fellow at Harvard School of Public Health