Economic Investment in the Congo

ECONOMIC INVESTMENT IN THE CONGO PEOPLE WERE INTERVIEWED FOR 5177 THillS SURVEY. OF THOSE, OVER 50% WERE UNDER 25. WE HAD ABOUT 50% EQUAL PARTICIPATION BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN. WITH 65% OF RESPONDENTS REPORTING LIVING IN MORE URBAN ENVIRONMENTS VERSUS RURAL. THIS MAJORITY OF URBAN PARTICIPANTS MIGHT ALSO BE WHY WE SEE THAT OUR SAMPLE POPULATION IS SWIFTLY BECOMING INTERNET USERS, WITH SOCIAL MEDIA AS THE SECOND MOST COMMON WAY TO GET NEWS (29%), AFTER NEWSPAPERS (32%). WORD OF MOUTH IN JUNE IS DOWN TO LESS THAN 2% AS A NEWS SOURCE. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CÔNGO CURRENT ECONOMY 77% "ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS IMPORTANT". 77% SAY THE ISSUE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IS IMPORTANT TO THEM. MAKING PERSONAL CONCERNS AND ENDS MEETING, A HIGHER PRIORITY THAN PERSONAL SECURITY. 11TH GDP GROWTH- DRC PROJECTED TO BE WORLD'S 11TH FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY THROUGH 2015 (8%) FASTEST GROWING ECONOMY BUT OPTIMISM WANES – 45% NATION- ALLY EXPECT ECONOMY TO IMPROVE OVER NEXT FOUR YEARS, BUT ONLY 35% IN THE EAST (AND 42% EXPECT IT TO GET WORSE) CONFIDENCE IN IMPROVING ECONOMY OVER NEXT 4 YEARS 100% 45% 35% 42% 0% NATIONALLY EAST GETTING WORSE WHY? BECAUSE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THE COUNTRY IS RECEIVING THE BENEFITS OF THIS GROWTH OVER HALF THE RESPONDENTS LESS THAN 5% BELIEVE LESS THAN 5% HAS BENEFITED FROM GROWTH. WHERE SHOULD INVESTMENTS BE MADE FOR THE FUTURE? - ENTREPRENEURSHIP AROUND 60% OF CONGO- LESE REPORT STARTING A BUSINESS, AND OF THOSE, 72% DESCRIBED THE 60% PROCESS AS EITHER A DIFFICULT OR VERY DIFFICULT ENDEAVOR. DRC IS 183 OF 189 ON THE WORLD BANK'S EASE OF DOING BUSINESS INDEX - AGRICULTURE THE PORTION OF AID DEDICATED TO AGRICUL- TURAL DEVELOPMENT HAS DROPPED SHARPLY FROM 12 PERCENT IN THE EARLY 2012 2013 1980'S TO ROUGHLY 4 PERCENT TODAY THIS IS ESPECIALLY TROUBLING, AS COFFEE EXPORTS DECLINE (11% LAST YEAR) 12% - 4% 1980s TODAY THERE IS TREMENDOUS OPPORTUNITY TO REVERSE THAT TREND IN EASTERN CONGO: “THE DRC IS ONE OF THE LARGEST COUNTRIES IN THE WORLD IN TERMS OF ARABLE LAND: IF THAT LAND WAS FARMED SUCCESSFULLY, IT COULD FEED ONE THIRD OF THE GLOBAL POPULATION" -INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE INFRASTRUCTURE A 56% 3X IN 2013, 56% OF RESPONDENTS HIGHLIGHTED INFRASTRUCTURE (WATER AND SANITATION, ELECTRICITY, ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION) AS THE THIS CONCERN FOR TOP CONCERN FACING THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE LOCAL COMMUNITY. IMPROVEMENTS HAS TRIPLED OVER THE LAST YEAR AS A COMMUNITY-LEVEL CONCERN EASTERN CÔNGO INITIATIVE