When it comes to scaring off foreign investors who had intended to make property or land investment in Congo, the country rivals revolutionary Cuba.

The history of the last decade reads as a litany of troubles. The rule of dictator Mobutu Sese Seko saw large negative growth rates due to the destruction of a formal economy after decades of political and military strife. Mobutu was ousted by the late Laurent-Desire Kabila in 1997, but soon after, Kabila ignited a civil war among the DRC, its allies-Namibia, Angola, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and Chad-- and the invading Ugandans and Rwandans. Chaos combined with a heavy-handed and corrupt government drove foreign aid and investment away from the DRC.

Although the immediate concern of the DRC is ending the war and driving out the invading armies, the DRC will not be rebuilt without significant reforms to its economic policies. The DRC government must create a business-friendly environment by investing in infrastructure, ending the corrupt issuing of contracts, defending private property, and using the country's wealth of natural resources to benefit its people.