Ratings agency Moody’s says the economy of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has significant potential, although the DRC’s B3 rating (stable outlook), primarily reflects the fragility of the country’s economy and the country’s very weak institutional strength.
However, these are partially offset by the country’s robust growth prospects and the gradual improvement in governance indicators over the past 10 years. With its GDP per capita at $422 at the end of 2013, the DRC has the lowest GDP per capita in sub-Saharan Africa and in Moody’s-rated universe.
Moody’s expects DRCs economic growth to average 10.2 percent over the next two years, which is 3.4 percentage points above the average rate over the past 10 years.
The economy has significant potential. Although the mining sector remains the heart of the DRC economy there are other sectors with great potential. The agricultural potential of the DRC is significant as the country has nearly 80 million hectares of arable land with only a tenth currently cultivated or used for grazing. Oil production (offshore only) is only 22,000 barrels per day, but there are three promising sedimentary basins.
The potential for generating electricity is also very significant as the country has some of the largest hydro capacity in the world. Estimates put the country’s potential for hydroelectric generation at 100,000 MW or 13 percent of the world’s total, making DRC the third largest country in terms of hydropower potential behind China and Russia.
The Inga site alone could potentially generate 44,000mw, equivalent to the entire current output of South Africa. This is the world’s largest amount of hydroelectric capacity in a single place, however only 2.6 percent of the potential is currently being used.
