Oil windfall, a juicy resource
The oil sector alone accounts for 80% of government revenues, more than 60% of GDP and almost 90% of export earnings... Congo is currently the third-largest producer in sub-Saharan Africa, behind Nigeria and Angola, with around 340,000 barrels produced per day. Some twenty companies, mostly foreign, are currently operating on the country's oil fields, of which Total E&P Congo is the largest since the Moho-Nord oil field came on stream in 2017. Nearly 40 fields are currently being exploited, mainly offshore, giving Pointe-Noire the status of economic capital. While the oil windfall is colossal, its contribution to the country's development is more open to question. However, the "Publish What You Pay" coalition, which campaigns for greater transparency in the extractive industries, has noted an improvement in the Congolese situation in this respect. This progress has been confirmed by the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which awarded Congo "Compliant Country" status in February 2013. The aim is to encourage states to be more transparent with regard to their budgetary operations, ultimately enabling citizens to access information on revenue distribution. Since 2018, the country has been a member of OPEC, holding the presidency until 2022.
Wood, the country's second economic mainstay
Although the timber industry has become a relatively minor part of the economy since the advent of oil, it still represents the second largest sector in terms of export earnings. It is also a major source of employment in the many logging regions. Tropical species such as sipo, sapelli, okoumé and limba, as well as the vast artificial eucalyptus forests near Pointe-Noire, are finding their way onto international markets. Some ten operators, most of them European, are based in the north of Congo, where the industry is best established and most prosperous. According to the Ministry of Forest Economy, total production in 2018 amounted to 1.8 million m3, of which less than 50% was shipped as logs. After obliging companies in 2020 to process at least 85% of log production on its territory, the Congolese state put an end to log exports in January 2023. Companies complain about the burden of taxation in relation to their obligations to assume other charges linked to sustainable forest management, to contribute to the construction of roads, schools and health centers... Last but not least, timber exploitation raises the problem of the plundering of forest reserves by unscrupulous companies. To combat this scourge, the country has set up a community forestry system involving the local population. In the coming years, it also intends to be more demanding in terms of traceability, certification of forest concessions and sustainable management.
Agriculture, an under-exploited sector
This is perhaps the Congo's first paradox: a sparsely populated country, with fertile soils and abundant rainfall... yet it imports most of its agricultural produce, even though only 2% of arable land is cultivated... There are many explanations for this: firstly, the population is highly urbanized, and secondly, during the Communist era, the sector relied on state infrastructures that have slowly disintegrated. Farmers are more often than not engaged in subsistence farming based on traditional techniques, which do not produce enough to feed the city's bellies. Finally, the conflicts of the 1990s particularly affected Pool and Bouenza, two highly agricultural regions considered to be the "capital's granary": crops looted, livestock decimated, etc. Cassava remains the staple food, supplemented by plants often grown in association - sweet potato, taro - as well as harvested products such as koko, and those from hunting and fishing. Pigs and chickens are traditionally raised in the villages. Cattle rearing, following the collapse of the state ranches, remains marginal in the form of small private herds and vast ranches belonging to regime dignitaries.
The role of tourism
With an estimated 158,000 international tourists in 2018, tourism contributes little to the country's GDP. Despite the country's determination to implement a genuine tourism development policy, tourism is developing very slowly. For the time being, the cost of travel for foreigners, particularly from Western countries, dampens the enthusiasm of many tourists. Added to this are the difficulties of transport, with poorly maintained roads, damaged by the rainy season, making certain access difficult or even impossible, and isolating the structures set up in the parks. Nevertheless, ecotourism seems to be taking off, spurred on by NGOs and supported by the Ministry of Tourism and the Environment. Today, there are signs of the emergence of a desire to develop community-based tourism, as a means of raising awareness of the tourism sector and its long-term benefits, but also, in recent years, to implement regulations to better manage logging, a prerequisite for safeguarding the habitat of certain endangered species. Numerous private projects complete the offer. But in Brazzaville, and especially in Pointe-Noire, it is still business tourism that justifies the good progress in tourism figures in Congo. However, in April 2023, Pointe-Noire will welcome its first cruise ship, with 150 tourists of various nationalities on board. The Congolese government is clearly intent on diversifying its economic resources through the development of tourism, and ecotourism in particular, made possible by the country's exceptional flora and fauna.
