Congolese Franc

Overview

The official currency of the Democratic Republic of Congo is the Congolese Franc (CDF). The symbol for the Franc is FC. The Franc is subdivided into 100 centimes. There were two editions of the Franc; the second edition is the new Congolese Franc.

Economy

• The Democratic Republic of Congo has a vast amount of mineral and other natural resources. The estimated value of the untapped raw material is +/- 24 trillion USD.
• Agriculture accounts for 57% of the GDP. Products of the agriculture industry are rubber, tea, cotton, sugar, palm oil, and coffee.
• The Congo relies on the mining industry.
• The main industries are consumer products, mining, cement, and commercial ship repair.
• Export products are crude oil, wood products, coffee, copper, gold, diamonds, and cobalt.
• Import products are transportation equipment, mining and other machinery, and food.
• There is a lot of economy activity in the informal sectors that is not included in the GDP.
• The first and second wars that took place in the 1960s negatively impacted the economy.
• The government is establishing economic zones to help get the industrial sector started.

History

• The first Franc was introduced in 1887. It had the same value as the Belgian Franc.
• In 1916, the Congolese Franc also circulated in the countries of Burundi and Rwanda; however, they later issued their own Franc.
• In 1967, Congo declared independence and the Franc was replaced with the Zaire at 1,000 Francs = 1 Zaire.
• In 1997, the Franc was re-introduced and the Zaire was eliminated. The exchange rate was 100,000 new Zaires = 1 Franc.
• In 2010, the Central Bank printed commemorative notes to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the country’s independence from Belgium.