Business group urging leaders to hasten DRC admission into EAC

The apex body of private sector associations and from the six East African Community (EAC) countries is freshly urging EAC Heads of States to "direct relevant Government bodies to fast track the admission" of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into the bloc.

The East African Business Council (EABC) put its request to regional Ministers who will, in turn, present it to leaders during the upcoming 21st Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, scheduled for Saturday, February 27. “DRC offers a large market for EAC SMEs to tap into. DRC will in turn benefit from the larger EAC Common Market and Common External Tariff Framework,” said Dr. Peter Mutuku Mathuki, the chief executive of EABC.

On June 8, 2019, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi formally expressed his country's interest in joining the six-member Regional Economic Community when he wrote a letter to the EAC Chairman, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Tshisekedi noted that his request was in line with the growing trade ties between the business community in his country and countries in the EAC.

In February last year, an Ordinary EAC Summit that could have possibly drawn up the necessary timetable for the examination of Kinshasa's request did not happen and, in the end, the matter just kept on being postponed as the bloc focused on other matters. On Saturday, however, the leaders will meet and, most likely, make a pertinent decision to kick start the process of examining DRC's application.

In the past, Kigali and Dar had already declared they are in favour of Kinshasa’s acceptance. On Saturday, when Kagame hands over EAC chairmanship to Kenya's Uhuru Kenyatta, Tshisekedi who is now chairman of the African Union (AU) will be hoping that the process of examining Kinshasa’s application for membership of the regional bloc will be started.

A study conducted by EABC and GIZ on the opportunities for trade in DRC showed that the value of goods imported from DRC in 2019, stood at USD 6.6 billion. However, EAC exports to the DRC in 2018, stood at USD 855.4 million, representing 11.5 % of total DRC imports while China dominated as the top exporter with a 31.2% share.

Whichever way one looks at it, DRC would be a good partner in EAC as it brings enormous wealth and opportunities. The DRC, roughly the size of Western Europe with a population of 84 million and a GDP of $50bn has natural resources estimated at $24tn; greater than the US GDP of $20tn.