DRC conflict threatens fragile stability in the Great Lakes region. Congo ranks second on the continent in terms of area, after Algeria.
It is fourth in Africa in terms. of population, after Nigeria, Egypt, and Ethiopia. But it is ahead of all the countries of the. continent interms of natural resources of precious metals such as cobalt, as the Congo. monopolizes more than half of the country’s production of this precious metal, gold and copper. All these riches could make it one of the richest and most prosperous countries in the world, but on the contrary, the Democratic Republic of Congo ranks fifth on the list of the poorest.