(3 Minutes Read)
Voters are due to go to the polls on December 20 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. President Felix Tshisekedi, 60, is running for re-election. Voters are demanding in a country beset with chronic under and unemployment. Over 60 percent of the country’s 100 million people are under 20 years old. However, the vast country has so far failed to achieve the demographic dividend despite having a young population.
The DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its vast mineral wealth. About two-thirds of the population survives on under US$2.15 per day, according to the World Bank.
The major candidates for the presidential election have all pledged to deliver more jobs. Tshisekedi has promised to create 6.4 million new jobs if he wins a second term. The youth unemployment rate is very high in the Central African country, with some estimates showing as high as 70%.
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Ending conflict in the DRC is also top of the agenda for many young voters. Armed groups plague much of eastern Congo, a legacy of regional wars that flared during the 1990s and 2000s. One such group, the M23, has captured swathes of territory in the region since launching an offensive in late 2021. In the eastern city of Goma restoring stability was a priority.
