Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are two countries in Central Africa. Even if they look alike in their names, these two countries are totally different on several levels, as Emile Ouosso Minister points out .
DRC and Congo Brazaville: Two countries separated by a river
The striking difference is the Congo River which separates the two countries. No summer this great river, a possibility of redesign would certainly be possible. Emile Ouosso also points out that Kinshasa (DRC) and Brazzaville ( Republic of Congo ) are the two closest capitals in the world, being separated only 5 km by the river.
Both in number of inhabitants and in area, the two countries are not equal. If Congo is one of the smallest countries in Africa in general, the DRC is the second largest country in Africa after Algeria. While the DRC is about 2,300,000 km² in area with 72,000,000 inhabitants , the Congo is only 340,000 km² with 4 million inhabitants. Besides this difference which is not the least, the two countries share different flag colors.
The flag of Congo is made up of the colors of Pan-Africanism which advocate peace in African countries that have been hit by war at a time in history. These are green, yellow and red. According to the story keepers:
green signifies the nature of the country;
yellow the natural wealth of the territory;
red represents the struggle for freedom.
The flag of the DRC in turn has 3 colors, but this time it is: sky blue, yellow (in a star and on the edges of the band) and red. The sky blue is the symbol of peace after years of war and the red represents the blood of the martyrs who gave their lives for a peaceful life. As for the yellow, there are two explanations: the yellow bordering the band means the wealth of the country and the yellow star is the symbol of a united people.
Different political realities according to Emile Ouosso Minister
The two peoples both speak Lingala, but they are ruled by two divergent political situations. The Congo and the DRC lived through many years of war before arriving at a consensus that was able to calm both parties. However, if the Republic of Congo has been able to regain stability for almost 10 years, the DRC remains in a worrying instability.
Indeed, the DRC has natural resources capable of sustaining it without any outside help.
“Unfortunately, only a minority of the population enjoys this natural treasure with a management that the population does not accept. Faced with this situation, the calm country on the other side of the bank finds itself welcoming Zairian refugees who could at any time create tensions according to the opinion of the population,” recalls Emile Ouosso .
Two countries governed by two different economic situations
“The Republic of Congo has an economy geared towards its northern neighbours,” explains Emile Ouosso Minister . Although its Kinshasa goods are a huge advantage, in addition to its vast oil resources, the country derives benefits from other neighboring countries as well. It maintains close relations with Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon as well. Its ties with Chad and the Central African Republic are also on good terms and they do many transactions.
As far as the DRC is concerned, its economy is more related to the peoples of the eastern Great Lakes region. These are Uganda, Burundi and Rwanda. Added to its own internal affairs, the country had to complain less.
Finally, on the currency side, the DRC has turned its back on its brother of the same name. If the Congo remains in cohesion with the majority of French-speaking countries by using the CFA franc, the DRC marks the difference. The country’s trade is done in dollars or Congolese francs, the national currency.