Democratic Republic of the Congo

The Democratic Republic of the Congo has strong ties with Belgium as it was the colonial power there from the time of the transfer of the private colony, the Congo Free State by King Leopold II, until the country gained independence in 1960. During the past century and a half, many Flemings also developed a personal relationship with the country, first in a role of missionary, then in a military, colonial official or entrepreneur capacity, and later as a co-operator in development cooperation. The Flemish universities and the VVOB are active there, using financing from the Federal Development Cooperation. Since independence, there has also been a significant Congolese presence in our country, especially in Brussels. The Government of Flanders is not very active in the country, since it has chosen a development cooperation focus of southern Africa.