ECONOMY

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With per capita incomes of US$1100, Congo-Brazzaville (as the country is frequently called to avoid confusion with Zaire) is a wealthy country by African standards but is declining in relative terms - it has moved from third to fifth position in Black Africa, behind Gabon, South Africa, Botswana and Swaziland. On the bright side, petroleum production has increased significantly in recent years because of new offshore discoveries by ELF. Food production, on the other hand, remains a major problem. The country cannot feed itself, and the problem is only worsening as people continue to move into Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire.

The revenue earned from all the wood that the Congo exports from its extensive rainforests barely covers the country's food import bill. The government has given higher priority to improving transportation, building dams and paper mills, and creating rubber plantations and forestry complexes.

Don't be surprised by your restaurant bill as the cost of living is the second-highest in Black Africa (Gabon has the highest). This is especially true of Brazzaville, the world's third most expensive city by 1993 figures (Tokyo and Libreville are the top two).

State of Economy

Overview: Congo's economy is a mixture of village agriculture and handicrafts, an industrial sector based largely on oil, support services, and a government characterized by budget problems and overstaffing. A reform program, supported by the IMF and World Bank, ran into difficulties in 1990-91 because of problems in changing to a democratic political regime and a heavy debt-servicing burden. Oil has supplanted forestry as the mainstay of the economy, providing about two-thirds of government revenues and exports. In the early 1980s rapidly rising oil revenues enabled Congo to finance large-scale development projects with growth averaging 5% annually, one of the highest rates in Africa. Subsequently, growth has slowed to an average of roughly 1.5% annually, only half the population growth rate. Political turmoil and misguided government investment have derailed economic reform programs sponsored by the IMF and World Bank.

National product: GDP - purchasing power equivalent - $7 billion (1993 est.)

National product real growth rate: NA

National product per capita: $2,900 (1993 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): -0.6% (1991 est.)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues $765 million
expenditures $952 million, including capital expenditures of $65 million (1990)

Exports: $1.1 billion (f.o.b., 1990)
commodities crude oil 72%, lumber, plywood, coffee, cocoa, sugar, diamonds
partners US, France, other EC countries

Imports: $704 million (c.i.f., 1990)
commodities foodstuffs, consumer goods, intermediate manufactures, capital equipment
partners France, Germany, Italy, Spain, other EC countries, US, Japan, Brazil

External debt: $4.1 billion (1991)

Industrial production: growth rate 1.2% (1989); accounts for 33% of GDP; includes petroleum

Electricity:
capacity 140,000 kW
production 315 million kWh
consumption per capita 135 kWh (1991)

Industries: petroleum, cement, lumbering, brewing, sugar milling, palm oil, soap, cigarette

Agriculture: accounts for 13% of GDP (including fishing and forestry); cassava accounts for 90% of food output; other crops - rice, corn, peanuts, vegetables; cash crops include coffee and cocoa; forest products important export earner; imports over 90% of food needs

Economic aid:
recipient US commitments, including Ex-Im (FY70-90), $63 million; Western (non-US) countries, ODA and OOF bilateral commitments (1970-90), $2.5 billion; OPEC bilateral aid (1979-89), $15 million; Communist countries (1970-89), $338 million

Currency: 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1 - 592.05 (January 1994), 283.16 (1993), 264.69 (1992), 282.11 (1991), 272.26 (1990), 319.01 (1989)
note beginning 12 January 1994, the CFA franc was devalued to CFAF 100 per French franc from CFAF 50 at which it had been fixed since 1948

Fiscal year: calendar year