DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050

This introductory section of a special report by the Institute for Security Studies outlines the current socio-economic and humanitarian state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) and introduces a forecasting project to analyze its development pathways to 2050 using the International Futures (IFs) modelling platform.

• The Democratic Republic of the Congo possesses significant natural resources, including approximately 50% of global cobalt reserves, 25% of world diamond reserves, and large reserves of coltan, alongside 80 million hectares of estimated arable land and vast hydroelectric potential.
• Despite its resources, the DR Congo experiences a 'paradox of plenty,' characterized by extreme poverty affecting more than 70% of the population and a Human Development Index ranking of 179th out of 189 countries.
• The country faces a severe humanitarian crisis, hosting 538,000 refugees and 5 million internally displaced persons—the highest number in Africa. Additionally, 15.6 million people suffer from acute food insecurity and 4.7 million suffer from acute malnutrition.
• Persistent instability and violent conflict continue to affect millions of people, specifically in the provinces of Ituri, Haut-Uele, Tanganyika, North Kivu, and South Kivu.
• The report utilizes the International Futures (IFs) modelling platform, an open-source tool that integrates data on demography, economy, health, and other systems to forecast a 'Current Path' scenario from 2015 to 2050, comparing the DR Congo against low-income groups in Africa and globally.

APA

Yeboua, K. (2022). DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=01-introduction

Chicago

Yeboua, Kouassi. DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050. Institute for Security Studies, 2022. https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=01-introduction.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yeboua |first1=Kouassi |title=DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050 |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=24 June 2022 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=01-introduction |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yeboua2022development, author = {Yeboua, Kouassi}, title = {{DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2022}, month = jun, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=01-introduction}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }