Democratic Republic of the Congo

As of March 24, the Democratic Republic of Congo had only forty-eight confirmed cases of coronavirus, with three dead of the disease. But although Congo is only in the very first stages of the pandemic, the contrast between the degree of state capacity and social discipline that it takes to stifle the disease and Congo’s record on these two counts is particularly worrisome.

On Thursday, February 13, the Africa Center hosted a roundtable with Dr. Pierre Englebert, Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council and H. Russell Smith Professor of International Relations at Pomona College.

Overall, while there has clearly not been any regime transition in Congo, there are faint stirrings of change. It is long shot, but it seems that the Western strategy of embracing Tshisekedi in exchange for Kabila’s removal from office may yet – possibly, hopefully – bear some fruit.