Zaire FOREIGN ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Trade and Balance of Payments
Spanish fishing boat at Zaire's main port of Matadi on
the Congo River
Courtesy Agence Zaïre Presse
Shallow-draft dugout on Lac Tumba, Équateur Region
Total exports for 1991 were estimated at US$1.5 billion
(see
table 12, Appendix). Six products--copper, cobalt, crude
petroleum,
diamonds, coffee, and gold generally accounted for over
threefourths of export earnings (see
table 13, Appendix). Total
imports
in 1991 were estimated at nearly US$1.2 billion, with the
largest
single import, US$362 million, being goods for Gécamines
(see
table 14, Appendix). Luxury goods for expatriates and the
Zairian elite
also constitute a substantial portion of imports.
The trade balance was positive throughout the late
1980s, but
by 1991 had dropped sharply because of decreases in world
market
prices for many of Zaire's commodity exports (copper,
coffee,
diamonds, crude oil, and cobalt), drops in production, and
rises in
import prices. The current account balance (which includes
goods
and services) was consistently negative, however, because
of the
massive increase in external debt-servicing requirements.
Trade
surpluses were more than swallowed up by outflows on the
services
account. Inflows on services could not make up the
deficit,
resulting in a negative current account balance and,
generally, in
a negative overall balance of payments as well because net
capital
transfers were also insufficient to cover the deficit.
Ironically,
Zaire's current account showed great improvement (by more
than 75
percent) in 1992, largely because of a dramatic 52 percent
decline
in imports, which outweighed the 35 percent drop in
exports.
Belgium, the United States, and other West European
countries
are the destinations of most of Zaire's exports (see
table 15,
Appendix). However, since 1989 South Africa has also been
an
increasingly important trading partner. Zaire reportedly
exchanges
coffee, wood, and minerals for South African food,
agricultural
machinery, and spare parts. Official figures on trade with
South
Africa are sketchy, but there is an abundance of South
African food
products available in Kinshasa, including large quantities
of fresh
produce.
The economic problems confronting developing countries
that
rely predominantly on extractive product exports have been
well
documented. In Zaire agricultural exports declined
steadily from
nearly half the value of all exports in 1958 to 11.6
percent in
1986. Coffee was the primary agricultural export
commodity,
contributing 7 percent of export revenues in 1988, while
cotton was
no longer being exported in the early 1990s but was
produced mainly
for domestic consumption. Copper and cobalt alone
accounted for
nearly half of all export earnings in 1987 and 1988. Three
of the
four largest companies in Zaire (Gécamines, Gulf, and
Miba)
accounted for 70 percent of export earnings and were
mineral or
petroleum companies. Mineral prices fluctuated
dramatically
throughout the decade. Even for cobalt, where Zaire and
Zambia had
a near monopoly, the two countries had difficulty
maintaining a
price floor.
Theft, looting, and smuggling also are widespread in
the
Zairian economy. Cross-border smuggling and unlicensed
trade have
been widespread since independence but have expanded
markedly in
the troubled 1990s. Although both activities deprive the
government
of revenues, they do provide consumers with goods that are
otherwise unavailable or unattainable because of the lack
of
foreign exchange and hard currency needed for official
imports.
Traders smuggle out primary products such as gold,
diamonds,
cobalt, coffee, and ivory in order to barter for or obtain
the hard
currency to purchase consumer goods such as vehicles,
spare parts,
fuel, electrical appliances, construction materials,
pharmaceuticals, and foodstuffs.
Data as of December 1993
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