slimboyfat2 days ago No doubt there is growth in the Congo, but it's not possible to tell if the figure for last year was accurate, or the figure for this year, or neither. So in terms of global growth it's probably best to ignore it at the moment because inclusion very likely creates a false impression of the global trend.
Another thing about the Congo: it is a country which has had significant independent "Watchtower" movements in the past. I don't know if these are still active, but it is possible that the definition of a JW adherent is slightly more fluid in this region than we are accustomed to elsewhere, such that congregations may be moved inside or outside the organisational umbrella from one year to the next. If so it is possible that a large increase in any given year represents reconnection of the official Watchtower organisation with pre-existing independent congregations.
The Congolese people that I gave Bible studie know many witnesses in Congo. When they were in refugee camps in Congo, there were many, many witnesses in these same camps with them. The witnesses in refugee camps (I heard this also from other Congolese brothers) are really different than the witnesses in for instance Europe. Most of them are there for the wrong reasons, they do not live up to the rules of the witnesses. If these people would be attending any Western country congregation they would probably be described as bad association (of course there are also those that are there for not the wrong reasons).
Many Congolese people in cities (not rural) do in fact have the ability to go on the internet. But the thing is that they all speak French, since this is the official common language, but many many Congolese people are not able to read French. This has to do with illiteracy, and of those that are literate, many can hardly read French, but are only able to read their own native language. The family with whom I studied first received French literature, but they could literally do nothing with it. They could not understand. They were only able to read literature when they saw it in their own African language. So even if the witnesses in Congo have access to the internet, for most of them this is not sufficient to learn about TTATT, because TTATT is most likely not widespread among the native African languages on the internet.
And, the Congolese people are very very believing people, so this contributes also to the fact that they are really inclined to listen to the witnesses when they use their Bible.