Country Profile of Congo (DRC) – Information

Last update on: 3 June 2021

from Congo (DRC) profile by BBC

Radio is the main source of information in the DRC, although many parts of the country are out of range and rely on Short Wave broadcasts on non-local stations (such as BBS World Service). There are two state-owned radio stations and about 100 privately owned stations. The fixed-line telephone system is severely lacking – less than 1 per 100 inhabitants has a subscription for a fixed-line, ranking the DRC as 217^th in the World. However, 37.1 million people have cell phones, ranking it as 34^th in the world in regards to cell phone usage. Internet use is very sparse. There are a total of 290,000 people (less than 1% of the population) who use the Internet, ranking it 143^rd in the world. Because of sporadic electricity, technology has been unable to significantly improve as of yet. The GoDRC has a history of restricting access to information. However, one of MONUSCO’s enduring contributions to expanding political dialogue in the DRC has been the establishment of the Radio Okapi which is extremely popular and presents a wide range of views on current topics.

Other Information sources:

https://news.un.org/en/tags/democratic-republic-congo

These products are the results of academic research and intended for general information and awareness only. They include the best information publicly available at the time of publication. Routine efforts are made to update the materials; however, readers are encouraged to check the specific mission sites at https://monusco.unmissions.org/en or https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/mission/monusco.