With a POD no earlier than 1800, have Congo today at least have the equivalent of BRIC status.
Well it won't stay independent, so it would have to be colonized by people more invested in infrastructure/development than the Belgians. And then you'd have to get them to work with actual decolonization, instead of the mess that Belgium left behind. Maybe an alternate *Liberia or *Sierra Leone could conquer much of the Congo and develop peacefully as an American ally/British colony?
West African nations-could conquer much of the Congo
and develop peacefully
Sorry, but I don't see how.
Portugal claimed the area before Leopold got it. France was also quite interested. Some of the interior regions like Katanga might end up in British or German hands.Who would be likely to replace leopold?
Could we not butterfly away the scramble? Have native client states in the region instead of direct colonization?
By alternate Liberia/Sierra Leone, I meant that the United States/Great Britain settles free slaves in the Congo instead of West Africa. I wasn't referring to the historical West African nations, although I can see how I might have been unclear.