This paper recommends a way for testing the proposition that countries well endowed in natural resources (e.g. oil, gas, diamonds or gold) tend to perform poorly economically and politically. The paper first reviews whether the qualification of natural resources abundance applies to Congo. In the second part, criteria to the curse are analyzed. Next, a review of the impact of natural resources on the economy is undertaken before addressing the socio-political impact. Finally, a prescription is proposed for the Republic of Congo from both theoretical and practical solutions. We argue that in the case of the Republic of Congo the negative impacts of natural resources can be mitigated via sound macroeconomics policies. Our empirical findings indicate that referring to “ownership” curse might be more appropriate than “resource” curse when considering the Republic of Congo. It is the conclusion of this paper that there is no determinism at play for petroleum-rich nations

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