Democratic Republic of Congo

Local Information:

The Democratic Republic of the Congo also known as Congo-Kinshasa, and formerly Zaire, is a country in Central Africa. It is, by area, the largest country in sub-Saharan Africa, the second-largest in all of Africa (after Algeria), and the 11th-largest in the world. With a population of around 105 million, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is  the fourth-most populous country in Africa (after Nigeria, Ethiopia and Egypt) and the 15th-most populous country in the world. It is a member of the United Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, African Union, and COMESA.

Kinshasa, the capital is also the largest city of the country.

Congo achieved independence from Belgium on 30 June 1960 under the name Republic of the Congo. Congolese nationalist Patrice Lumumba was elected the first Prime Minister, while Joseph Kasa-Vubu became the first President. During the Congo Crisis, Joseph-Désiré Mobutu, who later renamed himself Mobutu Sese Seko, officially came into power through a coup d'état and renamed the country Zaire in 1971. Destabilization in the east resulting from the 1994 Rwandan genocide led to a 1996 invasion led by Rwanda, which led to Mobutu's ousting in the First Congo War the following year.
Laurent-Désiré Kabila then became the new president, reverting the country's name to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Tensions between President Kabila and the Rwandan and Tutsi presence in the country led to the Second Congo War from 1998 to 2003. Ultimately, nine African countries and around twenty armed groups became involved in the war, which resulted in the deaths of about 5.4 million people. The two wars devastated the country. President Laurent-Désiré Kabila was assassinated by one of his bodyguards on 16 January 2001 and was succeeded eight days later by his son Joseph.
Following the 2018 general election, in the country's first peaceful transition of power since independence, Kabila was succeeded as president by Félix Tshisekedi.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is extremely rich in natural resources. Besides the capital Kinshasa, the two next largest cities, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi, are both mining communities. The DRC's largest export is raw minerals.

Hapag-Lloyd in D.R. Congo:
Hapag-LLoyd serves D.R. Congo through it's agent CONNEXAFRICA DRC SARL