The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) may be looking at its first peaceful transition of power since declaring independence in 1960, as now former president Joseph Kabila’s 18-year tenure has come to an end. Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi was inaugurated without incident last week, despite accusations of electoral fraud.
Figures from The Banker’s database show that after a few difficult years, banks in the DRC were on their way to healthy profitability by the end of 2017. Of the country’s top five banks by assets, all but one’s pre-tax profits were in the black. This is no mean feat, given that the Congolese franc depreciated 31% against the US dollar over the course of that year.
