The DRC is potentially one of Africa’s valuableest states, with considerable agricultural, mineral, and energy resources. instability after freedom in 1960 contributed to a sluggish economy that grew only about 1% a year until the mid-1980s. Nationalization, corruption, inexperience, heavy borrowing, a deteriorating infrastructure, and inappropriate development took a high toll throughout the 32-year regime of Mobutu. The nation dropped from having one of Africa’s highest standards of living to one of its lowest. In 1990 the DRC’s gross domestic product (GDP) was around to be $8.1 billion ($220 per capita).

Agricultural activity is largely subsistence-oriented and accounts for one-fourth of the gross domestic product (GDP); it employs about two-thirds of the nation's workforce, many of them utilizing primitive, orthodox farming methods. Export crops include coffee, palm products, tea, rubber, and cotton. Of its basic foodstuffs, the nation produces most of its cassava but only a small portion of its corn (maize) and rice; bananas are also grown.Forests cover more than three-fourths of the total land area but are mostly untapped as an economic resource. Most of the lumber produced is used domestically.

The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo - a nation endowed with large potential wealth - has declined drastically since the mid-1980s. The new government instituted a tight fiscal policy that initially curbed inflation and currency depreciation, but these small gains were quickly reversed when the foreign-backed rebellion in the eastern part of the nation began in August 1998. The war has dramatically reduced national output and government revenue and has increased external debt. Foreign businesses have curtailed operations due to uncertainty about the outcome of the conflict and because of increased government harassment and restrictions. The war has intensified the impact of such basic problems as an uncertain legal framework, corruption, raging inflation, and deficiency of openness in government economic policy and financial operations. A number of IMF and World Bank missions have met with the government to help it develop a coherent economic plan but associated reforms are on hold.