Lighthouses in the drought zone “Kenya is prone to disasters”, stated the UN development program UNDP succinctly years ago, thus apologizing for the fact that East Africa’s powerhouse, which, unlike most of its neighbors, has never had to survive a civil war, is meeting some of the United Nations’ development goals despite considerable growth has… Read More »
Proportion of literate adults: 78.7% of those over 15 years of age (HDR 2018) Major religions: Christianity approx. 80%, Islam approx. 10%, indigenous people Urban population: 27.0% (HDR 2018) Life expectancy w / m: 68.7 / 64.0 HDR 2018 (2017: 69.7 / 64.9 years) Gender inequality: 0.545, ranked 134 of 162 (HDR 2018) Number of… Read More »
Luxury good education Director Edward Ndeda in the overcrowded exam class Kongowea Primary School, Mombasa As a major country in African continent according to petwithsupplies, Kenya has achieved a lot in the field of education. According to the World Bank, around 80 percent of Kenyans can read and write for over 15 years. A good… Read More »
Access to health care Education as HIV prevention – a painted school wall The figures from the World Health Organization show it: Kenya is a long way from providing comprehensive health care for the population. There are just 0.14 doctors for every thousand citizens (3.37 in Germany). What’s more, even if a doctor were available,… Read More »
Religion: With God under the baobab tree A little trust in God doesn’t hurt when you earn your money on such a device in Nairobi Spirituality and religion play a very important role for most Kenyans. The majority of Kenyans – 85 percent according to the 2019 census – are Christians of various denominations. About… Read More »
Artistic awakening after the Second Liberation Portrait of a woman by Fitsum Woldelibanos Kenya’s capital Nairobi is a cosmopolitan city with a wide range of music, literature and visual arts, where world trends and regional and local developments often merge into something new. The end of the Moi era at the end of 2002, known… Read More »
Packing list – or what you should take with you in large quantities from Germany Malaria prophylaxis Medicines (be careful – there are a lot of counterfeit medicines on the Congolese market) Bug spray Shampoo and other hygiene items cosmetics Sunscreen, good sunglasses High quality mosquito protection (mosquito tent, mosquito net) Youth hostel sleeping bag… Read More »
Travel, transportation and traffic International airlines currently flying to Kinshasa: Brussels Airways South African Airways Ethiopian Airways Kenya Airways Air France Travel within the country is only possible to a very limited extent. Chaotic conditions prevail in traffic and communication. Overall, the road network is below average. The government speaks of 2,800 km of tar… Read More »
Currency: Franc Congolais (common in US dollars in circulation) Exchange rate: 1EUR = 1884.64 Franc Congolais (January 2020) Time zone: UTC + 1 Country code (phone): +243 Climate (for capital): tropical humid Congo Everyday Life Entry and residence regulations Current travel and safety information and important addresses or telephone / fax numbers can be obtained… Read More »
Religion The cathedral in Bukavu, Eastern DR Congo The vast majority of the Congolese are very religious. Life with the ancestors and God determines life in all its facets. Even if Christian worldviews are dominant, the connection to the ancestors is the most important thing in the Congolese religious practice. In the remote rural areas… Read More »
Art and music Congolese art includes two basic directions: works of art of the spiritual and religious everyday life and works of art for the representation of one’s own culture, whereby the latter were created only after the contact with the European culture. A mosaic of traditional and contemporary art developed through many ethnic groups… Read More »
Healthcare Rural health center in Ituri The health system of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which was set up with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO / OMS), is very well thought out. Central hospitals (Hôpital de Reference) are assigned secondary health structures (Zone de Santé, Center de Santé, Poste de Santé),… Read More »
Ebola – another outbreak in the DR Congo in 2018 The first case of a viral disease, the name of which “Ebola” comes from here, became known in 1976 on the Ebola River in the north of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a major country in African continent according to thereligionfaqs. At that time,… Read More »
Proportion of literate adults: 77% (2018) Major religions: Christians 80% (thereof Kimbanguists 10%), Islam 10% Urban population: 43% (2019) Life expectancy (female / male): 60.4 years / 58.9 years (2018) Gender Inequality Index: Rank 186 of 187 (HDR 2018) Number of births: 6 / p. Woman (estimated, 2017) Infant mortality: 70/1000 live births (2018) Peoples… Read More »
Youth Over 19% of the population belong to the youth group (14 to 24 years). It is alarming that 47% of the victims – of various violent conflicts – come from precisely this group. Apart from a small minority who find an apprenticeship place in private or denominational institutions, the young people have to “get… Read More »
Great efforts have been made in implementing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to themakeupexplorer. The data situation is uncertain as large parts of the rural population live very isolated and there are no reliable figures on the population and development situation. The results of the indicators used… Read More »
The economy of the Democratic Republic of the Congo is growing only slowly. The value added tax introduced in 2012 and a restrictive monetary policy by the central bank offer good conditions for economic growth, but corruption and one-sided dependence on the extraction of raw materials have a destabilizing effect. Telecommunications have developed particularly quickly… Read More »
Forestry The country’s wood wealth is enormous. About 52% of the country is covered with tropical rainforest, which is part of the Congo Basin. This means that the country has the second largest contiguous rainforest area after Brazil. Almost 6% of the world’s rainforest and around half of the African forest are located in the… Read More »
Industry The Congolese economy is determined by mining and the timber industry. The transport industry benefits from economic activities in the mining and forest regions. In the mining industry there are skilled craftsmen and service companies for the maintenance and repair of machines and processing plants. There are no exact figures on the export of… Read More »
Estimated GDP: US $ 47.32 billion (2019) Per capita income (purchasing power parity): US $ 541.00 (2019) Human Development Rank (HDI): Rank 179 of 188 (2019) Proportion of poverty (under $ 1.80 per day): 71% (2019) Distribution of income (Gini coefficient): 42.1 (2018) Economic Transformation Index (BTI): 126 of 137 (2020) Economic situation and policy… Read More »
The foreign policy is determined by the exploitation of natural resources and the various political and economic interests. Both the western industrialized countries, the DR Congo, have close ties to the European Union and especially to the Kingdom of Belgium, as well as the Asian industrialized and emerging countries, especially China, India and Japan, are… Read More »
Democratic Republic of the Congo Location TV programs are the central medium in urban areas, while radio determines communication in rural areas. The media landscape is changing rapidly in the country. In Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Goma in particular, local commercial radio stations as well as small newspapers and information sheets are emerging and disappearing. Freedom… Read More »
New President of DR Congo Etienne TshisekediBy Foreign and Commonwealth Office Political actors in the presidential and parliamentary elections Emmanuel Ramazani Shardary On August 8, 2018, government spokesman Lambert Mende announced that Joseph Kabila would not run for the December 2018 presidential election. Instead, Emmanuel Ramazani Shardary, general secretary of Kabila’s party, the PPRD, was… Read More »
Rulers and power groups after the 2006 elections Since the presidential elections on July 31, 2006, two relevant party platforms have formed: The AMP (Alliance pour la majorité parlementaire) around the PPRD (Parti du Peuple pour la Reconstruction et la Démocratie) and the UN (Union pour la Nation) on the party of the losing presidential… Read More »
According to softwareleverage, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a constitutional state. The legal system was determined in close alignment with Belgian law. In practice, the legal system works very poorly. There is very limited legal certainty. The causes are manifold: excessive corruption, post-pushing and bad pay at all levels as well as insufficient… Read More »
Human rights are regularly violated by the military, belligerent groups, police and secret services. The prisons are overcrowded and the conditions are often unimaginable. Many prisoners wait months, sometimes years, for an examination of the procedure or for a judicial decision. National and international human rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International… Read More »
Forest clearance in the DR Congo Strongly fluctuating annual precipitation, floods, torrential rain and incalculable dry periods as a result of climate change mean that farmers adapt their agricultural calendar to the rainy and dry seasons. In addition, the DR Congo is confronted with the following ecological challenges: risk of biodiversity loss, extinction of species,… Read More »
As a major country in African continent according to shoefrantics, the Democratic Republic of the Congo extends over very different landscapes. The Congo Basin with its tropical rainforests takes up around 60% of the country. It is bounded in all directions by mountain ranges between 500 and 1000 m high. In the south lies the… Read More »
The Kenyan landline telephone network is prone to failure, only very few people have access to it and has long been overtaken by mobile communications. In addition, you usually have to wait a long time for a private connection to be set up. The mobile phone providers have continuously expanded their networks so that there… Read More »