Although the DRC has mineral resources to make any western country pale with envy, it remains one of the least developed countries in the world. The country is the leading tin exporter in Africa and the fifth one in the world. Congolese subsoil holds 80% of the world's coltan reserves. The metal is used in the manufacture of almost every electronic devices. Gold and diamonds also come in abundance in the country.
But miners often dig using only pickaxes and shovels, without any help of any motorised tools. Infrastructures are simply nonexistent since a number of the mines are informal, meaning not belonging to any large industrial corporation. The miners sell the minerals to traders who take them to the cities of Goma or Bukavu where they are purchased in bulk by foreign companies.
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