The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has officially joined the East African Community (EAC).
The DRC’s membership bid was officially approved at a summit of the EAC this week.
The EAC’s other members are Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, and South Sudan. It was first established in the 1960s, fell into disarray in the following decade due to disagreements between member states, and was resuscitated in 2000.
The EAC aims to make trade and co-operation between the member states easier, with long-term goals including the establishment of a common currency, allowing the free movement of citizens within the bloc, and finally full political federation.
Joining the bloc will make it easier for Congolese citizens to visit other EAC member states, as well as giving the DRC better access to ports on the EAC’s Indian Ocean coast. In addition, the country’s membership will make the transport of goods to other members cheaper and easier too.
The addition of the DRC’s 90 million people means that the EAC bloc now consists of 300 million people.
The EAC could also now have easier access to the Atlantic Ocean and West Africa through the DRC, but the Congo’s infrastructure will need to be upgraded significantly before that becomes a reality.
EAC secretary general Dr Peter Mathuki was quoted as saying: ‘We are neighbours with the DRC, but we don’t trade much with it simply because there is no framework. Most of the goods coming into DRC are from outside East Africa [from countries] like Zambia and Asia. Therefore, we are looking forward to putting in place a mechanism that’s going to ensure trade between ourselves and DRC improves.’
The DRC and Tanzania are also both members of the Southern African Development Community, a regional body of which South Africa is a member.
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