The Central Bank of the Congo is responsible for developing and maintaining the Congolese franc, which serves as the primary form of currency in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is widely considered to be the richest country in the world regarding natural resources; its untapped deposits of raw minerals are estimated to be worth in excess of US$24 trillion.

Economic Sectors:

⦁ MINING

The Congo has 70% of the world’s coltan, a third of its cobalt, more than 30% of its diamond reserves, and a tenth of its copper. The African country generated up to 70% of its export revenue from minerals in the 1970s and 1980s, and was particularly hit when resource prices deteriorated at that time.
By 2005, 90% of the DRC’s revenues derived from its minerals (Exenberger and Hartmann 2007:10). The Congo is the world’s largest producer of ⦁ cobaltore,and a major producer of copper and diamonds, the latter coming from the Kasai province in the West. By far the largest mines in the Congo are located in the Katanga (formerly Shaba) province in the south, and are highly mechanized, with a maximum capacity of several millions of tons per year of copper and cobalt ore, and with the capability of refining it into metal. In terms of annual carats produced, the DRC is the second largest diamond-producing nation in the world, with artisanal and small-scale miners accounting for most production.

⦁ PETROLEUM
Compared to other sub-Saharan African oil producers, the D.R. Congo produces very little crude oil. However, offshore oil fields remained one of the government’s few stable sources of revenue in the 1990s. The country produces about 22,000 barrels per day of oil. U.S.-owned Chevron and Mobil dominate the Congo’s crude oil sector.

⦁ MANUFACTURING
The D.R. Congo’s primary manufacturing regions are Kinshasa and Lubumbashi, and they produce batteries, tires, shoes, food products, plastics, beverages, autos, textiles, and other consumer goods. Agricultural processing is one of the few relatively healthy industries, thanks to its ability to benefit from the mass of Congolese who are involved with agriculture. Although the Congo’s locally-produced goods are far more expensive than imports, local manufacturers have been able to withstand import competition.

⦁ AGRICULTURE
The Congo’s economy is largely based on subsistence agriculture.Nearly 70 percent of the population lives in the countryside and continues to cultivate individual tracts of land by traditional methods for personal consumption.
Coffee, cocoa, sugar, palm oil products, rubber, tea, and quinquina are produced on plantations and by small farmers. Food crops include plantains, maize, cassava, groundnuts, and rice.
Although the Congo’s agricultural sector is full of promise, the Congo still remains dependent on imports, despite having been a net exporter prior to its independence.

⦁ SERVICES
The service sector represents one-fourth of GDP and employs 19 percent of the labor force. The primary services are banking, communications, government, and transportation.