Prudent Use of Abundant Resources to Spur Development

It is no secret that Congo could be the economic engine of Africa. But it is no secret that Congo is squandering it resources.

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=39986&Cr=democratic&Cr1=congo#

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has the capacity to become the driving force of Africa’s economic development if its vast forests, water resources and trillions of dollars worth of mineral reserves are used prudently, according to the findings of a United Nations assessment released today.
The DRC has half of Africa’s forests and water resources, but faces alarming rates of deforestation, species depletion, heavy metal pollution and land degradation from mining, according to the study entitled ‘Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment of the DRC’ and jointly carried out by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Government.
The country also faces an acute drinking water crisis which has left an estimated 51 million Congolese without access to potable water, the two-year assessment today in Kinshasa, by UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner, and DRC’s Environment Minister, José Endundo, shows.