DRC moves to build gold reserves to strengthen country’s currency, bolster economy

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will start building gold reserves to bolster its currency and strengthen the economy, the central bank governor has announced — joining a growing number of African nations stockpiling the precious metal as prices soar.

According to Reuters-democratic-republic-congos-central-bank-start-building-gold-reserves-gold-price-2025-10-09, gold prices, which hit record highs above US$4,000 an ounce on Wednesday, have surged by more than 50 percent year-to-date, partly driven by strong central bank buying across the globe.

Congo, whose national budget has reportedly been strained by an escalation of the long-running conflict in its mineral-rich east earlier this year, has not previously held gold as a store of value despite producing sizeable quantities of the metal.

The Central African nation is also a leading producer of cobalt and copper but remains among the world’s poorest countries.

“Among the first decisions that I took… was to be able to constitute gold reserves for the central bank alongside the main hard currency, which is the dollar,” said Central Bank Governor Andre Wameso, who was appointed in July, in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday.

Asked about the amount of gold he was targeting, Wameso said, “The sky is the limit.” He did not disclose whether the bank had begun purchasing gold or when it would start.

Congo is Africa’s tenth-largest gold producer, according to the World Gold Council, with output of just over 40 metric tons last year.

However, some of the gold mined informally is reportedly smuggled through neighboring countries and used to finance conflicts rather than supporting the national economy.

“That gold should be the principal source of the development of our economy through financial solidity, monetary solidity of the central bank,” Wameso said, without elaborating on how the government intends to achieve this transformation.

A banker who previously served as a presidential aide before taking over as central bank governor, Wameso explained that the new gold stocks would complement traditional hard currency reserves such as the U.S. dollar.

Ghana, Tanzania, and Nigeria have already been buying gold domestically to strengthen their reserves. Rwanda, Burkina Faso, and Namibia have taken similar steps, while Kenya and Uganda have announced plans to follow suit.

Zimbabwe launched its new ZiG currency backed by gold reserves last year.

Wameso said building gold reserves would help boost the Congolese franc, complementing regional trade integration efforts through blocs such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), of which Congo is a member.

“That will not only reinforce the franc but also permit the franc to be traded internationally because it will be backed by reserves in gold, above and beyond dollar reserves,” he said.

The Congolese franc is not widely traded internationally, and Wameso acknowledged that the conflict with Rwanda-backed rebels in the country’s east had further strained government finances due to increased defense spending.

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