11th Carmignac Photojournalism Award

Congo in Conversation

Congo in Conversation

Obstacles to Progress

The list of obstacles to progress in Congo is long and complex: corruption, political instability, rebels, armed conflict and violence, illegal trafficking, and poor infrastructure. Roads are in a terrible state, and phones, Internet connectivity and electrical supply are unreliable. Government structures can kill initiatives with endless taxes, unclear procedures and harassment. Dealing with government officials who demand bribes, getting bureaucratic land concessions and licenses, working with everyone from local chiefs and villagers to investors and donors, all mean that Congo is not an enabling environment. While the overall message of Congo In Conversation is intended to be optimistic, there is no denying the potential pitfalls and setbacks that must be confronted as Congo struggles to move forward.

Brussels, Belgium, June 2020. A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II, which had been defaced by protesters and then cleaned, was scrawled last week with fresh graffiti reading "Stop Cleaning Start Reflecting" in Brussels, where a campaign under the name “Let’s Repair History” (Réparons l’Histoire) has called for the city to remove statues of Leopold, starting with a monument in Place du Trône near the Royal Palace. As massive gatherings for racial justice gain momentum around the world, activists in Belgium are hoping the global movement may finally shift attitudes toward the colonial legacy of King Leopold II, the monarch whose tyrannical rule over the Congo Free State (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) is blamed for the deaths of between 10-15 million Congolese. Belgium’s federal parliament on June 17 approved a proposal to create a commission that will examine the country’s colonial history while the city of Ghent has announced that a defaced bust of Leopold II in Zuidpark will be permanently removed on 30 June, the anniversary of Congolese independence. © Pamela Tulizo for Fondation Carmignac

Obstacles to Progress

Congo’s 60th Anniversary of Independence, a Time of Reckoning?

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byJustin Makangara