ABSTRACT
The People’s Republic of the Congo lies on the west coast of central Africa, cradled for 1,000 km. The Congo gained for itself in the late 1960s a reputation for independence and radicalism. For the three years of Youlou’s tenure of office the Congo remained largely a client of French business interests. Since the late 1960s the state has been increasing its participation in the manufacturing sector in an effort to maintain employment levels and expand state control of the economy. The mining sector represented, by 1978, 17 per cent of GDP and a full 69 per cent of export earnings. The Congo economy’s two principal relationships to outside communities may be characterised as financial indebtedness to the West and military dependence on the Communist world. The United States was cast in a villainous role in Congolese foreign policy statements from the mid-1960s, when relations between the two countries were broken, until 1977 when they were finally re-established.
