The Sudanese-British philanthropist and billionaire Mo Ibrahim – whose telecom empire helped revolutionise mobile phone access across Africa – once famously remarked at the peculiarity of the fact that, until the early 2000s, telephone calls between Kinshasa and Brazzaville, capitals of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of the Congo (RoC) respectively, had to be rerouted via France and Belgium at international rates. Although the two cities are only a few kilometres apart, separated by the River Congo, it was only after the installation of a new telecom link by Ibrahim’s Celtec company – bypassing the detour through Brussels and Paris – that the cost of a telephone call dropped from $3 to a mere 28 cents per minute. Despite their geographical proximity and deep historical and demographic ties, these two nations have experienced markedly different trajectories in terms of recent history, politics, and the welfare of their people. At their roots, these divergent paths have been shaped by distinctive colonial experiences and the administrative boundaries that were imposed upon the two Congos a century and a half ago.

Towards the end of the 19^th century, European colonial powers met at the infamous Berlin Conference of 1884-5 to decide how to partition African territory among Europe’s most prominent states. It was decided that the BaKongo Kingdom (from which the two Congos derive their name) would be split along the River Congo. The territory on the northern side of the river would be controlled by France, and that on the southern side by Belgium’s King Leopold II as a privately owned, personal possession. The result of this arrangement was the creation of two distinct colonial entities: the notorious ‘Congo Free State’ under Leopold II and ‘the French Congo’ under France’s Third Republic. In 1960, when both lands achieved their independence from colonial rule, the former would become the DRC and the latter would emerge as the neighbouring RoC.

Between 1885 and 1908, Leopold’s Congo became centre stage for one of the gravest human rights atrocities in Africa’s history. Millions of men, women, and children were subjected to forced labour, torture, rape, and execution, leading to a catastrophic population decline estimated to have been between 10 to 15 million.  Meanwhile, the country’s vast natural wealth was exploited for the benefit of King Leopold and his family, transforming them into some of the of the wealthiest individuals in the world. In 2020, amid mounting calls for the Belgian royal family to reckon with its past, the country’s current monarch, King Philippe, wrote a letter to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in which he expressed his ‘deepest regrets for the injuries of the past’ committed under his great granduncle’s reign. So severe were the human rights abuses that international pressure forced King Leopold to cede the Congo to the Belgian state in 1908. Though the scale of atrocities diminished under Belgian colonial rule, the exploitative economic system persisted until the country’s independence in 1960. The discovery of vast mineral riches during the period of Belgian rule entrenched a system of plunder, the effects of which still haunt the nation today.

In the transition between Leopold and the Belgian state, the DRC effectively traded one imperial overlord for another. This cycle of external control and internal dictatorship continued well into the country’s post-independence years with the rise of Mobutu Sese Seko. Backed by the United States and its allies during the Cold War, Mobutu ruled the country with an iron fist for over three decades until his overthrow in the late 1990s. To this day, the name Mobotu remains synonymous with dictatorship and corruption in the region. Like Leopold before him, Mobutu ruled the Congo as his own personal fiefdom. At the time of his overthrow, it is estimated that he had looted a fortune amounting to as much as $5 billion from the country. His eventual deposal in 1997 following a bloody civil war marked a new phase in the DRC’s history and led to the emergence of the country’s first modern political dynasty, led by Laurent-Désiré Kabila and later his son, Joseph Kabila. Much like their predecessors, the Kabilas amassed immense wealth during their two-decade rule, which only ended in 2019 with the inauguration of Félix Tshisekedi – himself the son of a former prime minister and long-time opposition leader – as president.

Throughout its modern history, the DRC has grappled with chronic internal instability and has been subjected to relentless external interference – a consequence of the country’s vast mineral wealth. The state has found it difficult to maintain control over its resources and territories. In recent weeks, an armed rebel group, the M23, has made steady advances into the country’s mineral-rich Lake Kivu region. A surprise attack by the group in late January allowed them to capture of the strategic city of Goma – the capital of the North Kivu province and home to more than two million people. As of writing, several key cities have fallen into M23 hands with more expected to fall if fighting continues at the same pace. Since January, the fighting has resulted in more than 7,000 deaths and the internal displacement of more than 400,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes in search of safety. This latest episode of violence is yet another chapter in the country’s seemingly endless cycle of conflicts over natural resources – a vicious cycle rooted in its unhappy colonial history.

Across the Congo river, the Republic of Congo has had its own tumultuous political history since gaining independence from France. Like many African countries that gained independence in the 1960s, it was quickly sucked into the ideological power struggles of the Cold War. In 1969, less than a decade after independence, it became Africa’s first Marxist-Leninist state and was renamed the ‘People’s Republic of Congo’. Despite nominally abandoning Marxist socialism in the early 90s, the country has remained under the control of the Congolese Party of Labour (PCT) for over four decades since 1969, aside from a few years in the mid-nineties that were marked by a fierce power struggle that descended into civil war.

At the helm of the PCT is French-backed octogenarian leader, Denis Sassou Nguesso, who has ruled the country for a combined total of over 40 years. Interestingly, Nguesso’s in-laws are the Bongo family of neighbouring Gabon – another longstanding political dynasty, which has controlled the country under three successive leaders for nearly six decades. Nguesso has maintained his grip on power through the backing of his military and the systemic repression of dissent. The aging leader is also surrounded by allegations that he is trying to create his own political dynasty by grooming his influential son, Denis Christel Nguesso, to succeed him. As a result, the RoC consistently ranks among Africa’s least free and democratic nations alongside countries like Eswatini, an absolute monarchy.

Autocratic strongmen remain entrenched in many of France’s former African colonies. From Libreville and Brazzaville to Togo and Chad, France has long supported undemocratic rulers to maintain its influence. When Chadian President Idriss Déby died unexpectedly in 2021 after 30 years of repressive rule, his son Mahamat controversially seized power without a democratic transition. French President Emmanuel Macron was the only Western leader at the elder Déby’s funeral, effectively endorsing the succession of his son and heir. Since then, Macron has hosted him multiple times at the Élysée Palace.

France’s lasting influence on its former colonies can be traced back to its highly centralised colonial administration, where decision-making was concentrated in Paris and minimal autonomy was granted to the colonies. Even after obtaining their independence, 14 former colonies have a unique arrangement where they continue to hold 50 per cent of their foreign reserves in Paris, granting France veto power over their domestic monetary policies. None of the fourteen African countries have reciprocal veto privileges on France’s own monetary policies. This power imbalance has fuelled rising anti-French sentiment in parts of Africa, with several countries experiencing military coups aimed at reducing French influence over the past decade.

Brazzaville exemplifies France’s exploitative colonial legacy, where French rule was driven by the extraction of resources such as timber, rubber, and crops. Colonisers, driven by the eugenic ideologies of the time, justified their rule as a civilising mission. This belief motivated large-scale industrialisation projects like the 500-kilometre Congo-Ocean Railway, built with forced labour from 1921 to 1934. Tens of thousands died under brutal conditions in a system comparable to Leopold’s rule in the Belgian Congo.

Today, Brazzaville’s economy remains dependent on raw material exports, especially unrefined petroleum, perpetuating a colonial-era legacy of resource extraction. Nonetheless, despite its poor democratic record, Brazzaville has experienced better economic outcomes and has enjoyed greater political stability than the DRC over the past two decades. The country’s oil wealth sustains the regime, which relies on hydrocarbon exports to keep the economy running. Though economic inequality remains stark, and poverty levels high, Brazzaville’s citizens generally enjoy a comparably higher standard of living to their counterparts across the river in Kinshasa. A variety of metrics, including industrialisation, life expectancy, and overall quality of life, point to a more favourable situation in the Republic of the Congo than in the DRC.

The political and economic paths of the two Congos have diverged due to differing colonial histories and post-independence struggles. For generations to come, the state in both Congos will continue to confront colonial legacies and demands to prioritise their people’s welfare over external interests. The completion of the long-awaited Brazzaville-Kinshasa bridge may mark a new chapter in the national stories of the two Congos – one of greater unity, where the future is shaped by the people.