DR Congo is largely regarded as the world’s richest country with natural resources. The estimated worth of the untapped deposits of raw materials is over USD 24 trillion (U.S. Agency for International Development, 2021). In the Katanga region, minerals extracted include cobalt, cassiterite, copper, zinc, germanium, gold, platinum, and uranium among many other minerals. Other places with these and other minerals include regions around Lake Kivu, South-central Congo, and the Coastal Congo (Economic growth, 2020). The mining sector is the major driver of the country’s growth; for example, Copper makes up 12 percent of the country’s foreign exchange in the mining sector while cobalt makes up 7.6 percent.
DR Congo has partnered with various organizations and countries such as the World Bank and the United States to improve its economic status. World Bank is providing aid to the country in fighting poverty and improving the country’s living standards for the common citizen through the provision of health, education, and energy among other social services (Overview, 2021). It also partners with USAID (U.S. relations with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 2021) where USAID aims at scaling up sales and exports from the country through market linkage establishment with responsible gold buyers, especially in the European countries and North America.
