DR Congo joins East Africa trade bloc as seventh member

The Democratic Republic of Congo has officially joined the East African Community (EAC) as its seventh member to improve trade and political ties with its East African neighbours.

In a press release on Friday, the body said Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta; and Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi, DRC President, signed the Treaty of Accession after the summit of EAC heads of state at the State House, Nairobi.

The approval is coming three years after DR Congo applied for membership.

The statement added that DRC has till September 29, 2022, to undertake internal and constitutional processes to ratify the treaty and deposit the instruments of ratification with the secretary-general.

Tshisekedi said DRC is ready to play its role in the community to make it stronger and more prosperous.

He added that the DRC’s membership would optimise the agro-economic benefits of the bloc given the advantages of its “demographic and geostrategic positions”.

He also called on the summit to establish a new EAC institution that would ensure the sustainable exploitation of the region’s vast natural resources to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Kenyatta said the region has started seeing the benefits of the EAC, including the free movement of people, goods and services across the community, adding that this has boosted trade, strengthened people-to-people ties and enabled East Africans to harness the comparative strength of each member state for the benefit of all.

“To get to this point, it has taken strong leadership, commitment to the ideals of the EAC integration agenda and a clear understanding of the shared benefits that come with working together,” Kenyatta said.

“The accession of DRC as a member state of EAC will, even more, elevate these gains and strengthen our economic muscles and competitiveness in the continent and globally.

“We welcome DRC to the Customs Union and Common Market, which are the signature pillars of our Community and the foundation upon which our social, political, trade, investment, and economic interests stand.”

He added that the signing of the treaty would be followed by the immediate removal of non-tariff barriers to the movement of capital, goods, services and people, which will in time lead to an increase in intra-EAC trade.

Peter Mathuki, EAC secretary-general, disclosed that the entry of DR Congo had increased the region’s combined GDP by 22 per cent and geographical area by 79 per cent.