Central Africa_Central Africa Today

Central Africa is rich in raw resources but most of the countries in that region are poor. Most of the people in Central Africa live in rural areas. One of the reasons is that the governments are not stable. Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the countries in Central Africa had been ruled by a dictator, Joseph Mobutu, who worsened the whole economic system in Congo. Democratic Republic of Congo is called the "treasure chest of minerals" and other countries around it are rich of copper, diamond, gold, and cobalt. The forest provide rubber, wood and food. But some obstacles such as religion and ethnic conflict, civil wars, and health slow down the whole economy of the region.
Ethnic and religion differences create a civil war, which ends up in a disaster. A mix of ethnic groups and competing desires for power led to civil war in many of the region's countries. War has made a lot of damages to economies of Central Africa. Many people get injured which gives a disadvantage in industry-it lacks labor. The fighting also destroyed all the usable land for farming and the resources that could have been used more productively. Also, people are not getting enough nutrients which lead to famine. Important industries are destroying the environment for farming. Lumber companies are cutting down the trees, destroying the rain forests, mining diamond and copper removed large areas of land and destroyed landscapes. Even though Central Africa is trying to speed up and catch up with other countries, these obstacles keep on slowing the economies down.