THE CONGOLESE FINANCIAL SYSTEM: AS A DRIVER OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

This article analyzes the trajectory of the Congolese financial system from 1960 to 2026 and assesses its capacity to serve as a driver of socioeconomic development in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The methodological approach is qualitative, documentary, historical, and analytical. It is based on a diachronic and comparative analysis of secondary data concerning the evolution of financial institutions, currency, credit, financial inclusion, and the regulatory framework. The sample, understood here as a body of documents, consists of publications and statistics from the Central Bank of Congo, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, supplemented by the main legal and regulatory texts applicable to the Congolese financial sector during the period under study. The results highlight progress in macroeconomic stability, banking regulation, electronic money, digital financial services, and the consolidation of the banking sector. However, they also reveal the persistence of high dollarization, low financial depth, limited access to productive credit, and geographic concentration.