From every indication, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is unlikely to achieve most of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) by 2015 through strong and sustained economic growth. The consolidation of peace as well as the establishment of a government recognized by key political players in the peace process following  democratic elections in 2006, constitute real assets to the country's efforts to attain sustainable growth with a view to reducing poverty. Current challenges facing the government include restoring peace across the country and pursuing reforms which remain prerequisites for the free movement of goods and services.

In order to address these challenges, the Government prepared a medium-term priority programme (2007- 2011) in 1997, based on the main priority areas defined by the country's president. Subsequently, the government and its development partners agreed to a Country Assistance Framework (CAF) which was presented at the Consultative Group meeting in November 2007. Both bilateral and multilateral development partners undertook to provide sustained support to the country estimated at US$ 4 billion over the next three years (2008-2010). However, the level of resource requirements is such that the government will have to:

• increase the mobilization of domestic resources
• ensure more transparent management of public resources to attract more budget support
• improve the quality and programming of expenditure under a medium-term expenditure framework reflecting the priorities
• build the implementation capacities for the programmes concluded with its external partners

Bank Group Strategy

The Bank Group’s operational strategy for the 2008-2012 period falls within an overall framework that is based on two pillars, namely:

• support for good governance
• promotion of pro-poor growth.

For the Bank, the selection of these pillars stems from the diagnosis of major development constraints in the country and the lessons learned from the implementation of its previous strategy.

For the first pillar, the areas of intervention targeted by the Bank’s strategy include:

• improvement of the public finance management framework by strengthening expenditure monitoring and the mobilization of government revenue
• transparency in public and natural resource management
• enhancement of the business environment, which has weakened the competitiveness of the Congolese economy

Under the second pillar, the Bank will:

• promote the strengthening of basic infrastructure, especially in the areas of urban and rural road network
• expand access to sanitation and drinking water in semi-urban and rural areas
• step up the country's electrification. 

This strategy  is in line with the one adopted for the 2005-2007 period for a post-conflict country. It is also in keeping with the Bank’s strategy for increased engagement in fragile states.  The strategy for the 2008-2012 period was concluded on the basis of a maximum ADF-XI resource allocation of UA 177.33 million in the form of grants.