Closure

Since his reclaiming of power in 1997, President Sassou has made some dramatic changes.  He has gained more and more power in Republic of the Congo, and it looks as if he isn't going to lose it for a while.  While the negative account balance has been shrinking, the debt still remains, and RoC is relying on bailouts from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  Now RoC Government has recently been readmitted to the Kimberly Process, an international multi-stakeholder initiative designed to stem the trade of conflict diamonds. Congo had been suspended from the Kimberley Process in 2004, after reviews showed its diamond exports vastly outnumbered its production capacity. Congo’s government estimates current diamond capacity to be 5,000 carats, with a potential for up to 100,000 carats. 
RoC is working on repairing their debt, but they are only focused on making money through international trade.  They are not even trying to increase the local economy. Barely 25% of the GDP is generated locally. Everything else is from national trade.  This poses a big problem.  With all of the unrest within the Country, and with Sassou gaining more power, countries are going to begin to turn away from trading with RoC.  It would be very easy for France to halt trade with them, and this would be devastating for the economy as a whole -- severely decreasing the GDP.  Overall, RoC faces many economic dangers, and it will be very interesting to see how everything plays out.
Taken from GlobalEDGE.