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Congo in Conversation

Coronavirus devalues Congo’s currency

byBernadette Vivuya
May 19, 2020
in Economy
Reading Time: 2 mins read

With borders and airports closed and movement within the country restricted due to the coronavirus, traders in the Democratic Republic of Congo are struggling with currency fluctuations and a sharp downturn in business.

The lack of flights and international movement and trade has raised the relative value of the American dollar, the main currency used in the country alongside the Congolese franc. For the past two years, the local currency has been relatively stable, hovering around 1,600 francs to the dollar, but since Congo closed its borders and halted internal flights in late March, the official exchange rate has steadily increased and peaked on May 13th at 1,746 francs to the dollar. In Congo’s informal street markets, the exchange rate can be 2,000 francs, according to traders. “The rate of the dollar at noon is not the same as the rate at 2pm,” said Pascal Habamungu, a street side moneychanger in Sake, a trading town in Masisi district in eastern Congo’s North Kivu Province. “Everything is disrupted.”

The sliding value of the franc is compounded by the significant increase in the costs of basic goods since borders were closed due to the pandemic. In Goma, the price of salt has increased by 88.9 percent, peanut oil by 57.9 percent, hand sanitizer by 66,7 percent, and potatoes by 50 percent, according to the Kivu Security Tracker. The erosion of purchasing power as markets stagnate is having a severe impact. “We are suffering from this situation,” said Salama Furaha, a farmer and trader in Sake. “We are going to die from hunger.” 

More concerned with daily survival than with the intangible effects of an invisible virus, many Congolese are calling on their government to reopen borders so that trade can resume.

After 7 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in North Kivu Province today, the governor announced that Goma will go into a 14-day lockdown starting on Wednesday, May 20. A curfew will be imposed restricting all movement between 8pm and 5am. All traffic between Goma and Bukavu in South Kivu will be closed until further notice. Details of the new measures, including the obligatory wearing of masks, can be found here. 

As of May 19, Congo had 1,538 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 61 deaths. For the latest figures, click here.

Tags: BordersCoronavirusMarkets
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Bernadette Vivuya

Bernadette Vivuya

Bernadette Vivuya is a journalist and filmmaker based in Goma in Eastern DRC. She reports on issues related to human rights, the environment and the exploitation of raw materials, bearing witness to the resilience of the people in this conflict-affected region.

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  • “It’s been 26 years since we came to venerate our Pope, and this is the only way to mourn, always chic, well groomed, well dressed, and well scented.” said Gael Basaula, who was born in Brazzaville and who was wearing a colored sequin jacket and dyed yellow hair.
 
Each year, on February 10, Sapeurs in Kinshasa return to their origins. On the official Day of the Sape, they gather in all their finery at a cemetery in city’s Gombe neighborhood to pay tribute at the grave of Stervos Niarcos, often considered the official founder of modern sapeurism. Also known as “the Pope,” Niarcos died in Paris in 1995.
 
📷  Kinshasa, DRC, February 2021 © @makangarajustin for @fondationcarmignac
 
🔗 Read full article “Congo’s Sapeurs Revisit Their Roots” online. Link in bio.
 
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« Il y a 26 ans que nous venons ici vénérer notre Pape, et c’est le seul moyen d’exprimer notre deuil, toujours chics, soignés, bien habillés et parfumés. » témoigne Gael Basaula, natif de Brazzaville arborant une veste pailletée multicolore et des cheveux teints en jaune.
 
Chaque année, le 10 février, les Sapeurs de Kinshasa retournent à leurs racines. Pour la date officielle du Jour de la Sape, ils se rassemblent vêtus de leurs plus beaux atours dans un cimetière du quartier de Gombe et y saluent la mémoire de Stervos Niarcos, souvent considéré comme le fondateur officiel de la Sape moderne. Baptisé le « Pape », Niarcos est mort à Paris en 1995.
 
📷 Kinshasa, RDC, 10 février 2021 © @makangarajustin pour la @fondationcarmignac
 
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📷 Araribóia, Maranhão. Paulo Paulino Guajajara,
25 years old, a.k.a Lobo Mau (“bad wolf”), was a member of the Guajajara forest guard on patrol at the Araribóia indigenous reserve in Maranhão State. He was murdered on November 1, 2019, by illegal loggers. @tomprotti for @fondationcarmignac.
 
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Dans la continuité de la journée internationale des forêts, nous vous proposons cette semaine d
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In the continuity of the International Day of #Forests, we invite you this week to explore in images the vision of Tommaso Protti, 10th Carmignac Award laureate, on the Brazilian Amazon.
 
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Dans la continuité de la journée internationale des forêts, nous vous proposons cette semaine d
  • FORESTS
 
In the continuity of the International Day of #Forests, we invite you this week to explore in images the vision of Tommaso Protti, 10th Carmignac Award laureate, on the Brazilian Amazon.
 
📷 Jamari National Forest, Rondônia, May 19, 2019. A military police officer stands in what was previously an illegal mining site in the Jamari National Forest. This protected forest area is constantly targeted by illegal miners and loggers and requires round-the-clock supervision. The police officers provide armed assistance to park rangers who refused to be photographed. Once the loggers have removed the wood from the forest, it is taken to nearby irregular sawmills. Using falsified documents, the wood is sent to Brazil’s industrialized South or abroad to Europe, China or the United States. In recent years, invasions and illegal logging of protected forest areas have increased. Almost 10% of Brazil’s national territory is made up of protected forest.
 
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  • Traditional Mai Mai militiamen ride on a motorcycle in the village of Mabuku in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, an area infested with armed groups. Some Mai Mai groups have attacked Ebola treatment centres and have threatened to kill Ebola responders. The effort to stamp out this Ebola outbreak in eastern Congo, the second largest in recorded history, took nearly two years, as front-line health workers struggled against rising hostility and distrust.
 
Mabuku, DRC, 2019. @finbarroreilly
 
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Patrouille motorisée de miliciens Maï-Maï dans cette région infestée de groupes armés. Certains groupes Maï-Maï ont attaqué des centres de traitement Ebola et menacé de tuer leurs personnels. La lutte contre l’épidémie d’Ebola, la deuxième la plus importante de l’histoire, a mobilisé pendant plus de deux ans des personnels de santé confrontés à une vague d’hostilité et de défiance.
 
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