In 1876 Belgian King Leopold II ( 1835 - 1909 ) conversed a geographical conference in Brussels, Leopold proposed establishing an International benevolent committee for the establishment propagation of civilization among the peoples of Central Africa the Congo Region. Original conserved as a multi-national scientific and humanitarian assembly, the Association eventually, became a development company controlled by Leopold. He subsequently organized the Comite' d- Etudes du Haut-Congo an International Commercial, Scientific and humanitarian committee some time between 1879 to 1882the Association International du Congo emerged. From 1879 to 1884 Leopold used these organization to establish influence and eventually Belgian Sovereignty in the Congo Basin. His primary objective is to exploit the lucrative Ivory Market in the Central Afric by establishing a secure trade route between the upper and lower Congo.
The region was reported to be rich in other commodities as well such as mineral resource, Rubber exports began as early as 1890 and by the mid - 1890's rubber extraction would become the colony most profitable industry, under the terms of the General Act Of Berlin Conference, Leopold pledged to suppress the East African Slave Trade, impose no import duties for twenty years and encourage philanthropic and scientific enterprise. Contrary
to his pledge, beginning in the mid 1880's Leopold issued a series of decrees that eventually violated these conditions.
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