What is odious debt, and how is the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) an example of this?
What will be an ideal response?
Odious debt is legally defined as debt incurred without the consent of the people and that is not used for their benefit. During Joseph Mobutu's reign (1967 to 1997 ) in the DRC, real GDP, measured in the equivalent of U.S. dollars at 2000 prices, fell from $317 per person to $110 per person, while the regime amassed billions of dollars in foreign aid and loans. Mobutu's personal fortune was estimated to have reached $4 to $6 billion. In 2004, per capita income was at $88 and international debts were around $12 billion. Given the continued decline in incomes and the large number of unfinished projects financed by various governments and multilateral agencies, there is little evidence that the borrowed money was successfully used for development purposes. Furthermore, lenders knew the situation when they made their loans, but they went ahead since they wanted to secure access to the DRC's mineral deposits of cobalt and other strategic metals. In 2003, the DRC was admitted to the HIPC program and qualified for up to 80 percent debt forgiveness, and by 2010, more than half of its debt had been forgiven.
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