DRC President Kabila Visits Antwerp Diamond Center

Joseph Kabila, the president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, visited the Antwerp diamond center yesterday (Wednesday), cementing a more than 90-year relationship between his country and the Belgian city.

Kabila visited Belgium on the last leg of a European tour that also took him to France, Germany and Britain.

For Kabila, the visit to Europe is considered a critical step in restoring economic stability to the DRC, which has been striving for a return to normality ever since a peace pact was signed in April 2003 ending five years of civil war.

The DRC was a Belgian colony from 1884 until 1960, when it was granted independence. Diamonds were first discovered in the Belgian Congo in 1907 and today it is the world's fifth largest diamond producer.

Following the introduction of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, DRC diamond exports have skyrocketed from $300 million in 2002 to $658 million in 2003.