Association+Internationale+Africaine

The Association Internationale Africaine was founded in 1985 in the Berlin Conference. Leopold II, king of Belgium, was the chairman, owner, and sole stockholder. It granted Leopold II control over 905,000 square miles west of the Congo River. It proved an economic failure for Belgium, requiring emergency funds from the Belgian government to prevent bankruptcy twice, until the discovery of copper and rubber deposits in 1991. The AIA was dissolved in 1908 with the annexing of Zaire as the Belgian Congo.