King Philippe of Belgium urges the young people of the Congo-Kinshasa to take advantage of the enormous mineral wealth of the former Belgian colony.
– Congo is in abundance, says Philippe during a historic trip in the country.
The king spoke on Friday to students at the University of Lubumbashi. He praised their efforts to educate themselves and urged students to use their skills to maximize the “value of these riches.”
Philippe also highlighted the potential of the country’s agriculture and called the rainforest an “ecological resource” in the fight against climate change.
Lubumbashi is an important city in the copper- and cobalt-rich southeastern part of the country.
Congo-Kinshasa, with a population of 90 million, is one of the poorest countries in the world, despite its rich mineral deposits.
The Belgian king arrived in the capital Kinshasa on Tuesday for a six-day visit. The trip is seen as part of healing the wounds of Belgium’s brutal colonial rule, which plundered the country for minerals, timber and ivory.
Earlier this week, Philippe admitted that the Belgians caused both pain and humiliation through a mixture of “paternalism, discrimination and racism”. However, he did not directly apologize.