DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050

This report examines the governance challenges in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), highlighting systemic corruption, the failure of decentralisation, and the country's status as an 'anocracy' with a hybrid regime that lacks substantive democratic legitimacy.

• Governance in the DR Congo is dominated by rent-seeking political, military, and economic elites who prioritise ethnic and regional allegiances over sustainable development. Administrative appointments are typically based on political patronage, known as prebendalism, rather than merit.
• Decentralisation efforts have been hindered by political calculations and a lack of resources. Although the 2006 Constitution divided 11 provinces into 26, the central government in Kinshasa has maintained control by withholding funds; between 2007 and 2013, only 6%–7% of taxes were transferred to provinces, far below the constitutional requirement of 40%.
• Corruption is endemic across all sectors, particularly in tax, customs, and the extractive industries. Gécamines, the largest state-run mining company, is identified as a primary facilitator in diverting mining revenues away from the government budget. In 2019, the DRC ranked 168th out of 180 countries on Transparency International's corruption perceptions index.
• The DRC is characterised as an 'anocracy' or unstable hybrid regime, falling between authoritarianism and full democracy. According to the Center for Systemic Peace's 2018 data, the DRC scored -3 on a scale of -10 to +10, which is significantly more authoritarian than the low-income country average of 1.36. V-Dem data further shows a gap between the country's electoral democracy index (0.327) and its liberal democracy index (0.139).
• While a legal framework to fight corruption was created under Joseph Kabila, it is viewed as ineffective and often used as a political tool. The current president has attempted to address this by creating the l'Agence de prévention et de lutte contre la corruption (APLC) and ordering high-level arrests, such as that of Vital Kamerhe, though some observers view these actions as politically motivated.

APA

Yeboua, K. (2023). DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050. Institute for Security Studies. https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=03-governance

Chicago

Yeboua, Kouassi. DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050. Institute for Security Studies, 2023. https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=03-governance.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Yeboua |first1=Kouassi |title=DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050 |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=15 May 2023 |url=https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=03-governance |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{yeboua2023development, author = {Yeboua, Kouassi}, title = {{DEVELOPMENT PATHWAYS FOR THE DRC TO 2050}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2023}, month = may, url = {https://futures.issafrica.org/special-reports/guide.pdf?report=country/drc&topic=03-governance}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }