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Entry of DRC in EAC will increase trade, French and Swahili speakers
DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi signs the deed of Accession to the Treaty establishing the EAC at a ceremony held on Friday at State House Nairobi. PHOTO | COURTESY | STATE HOUSE KENYA
What you need to know:
- The country shares borders with all EAC members except Kenya, and hopes to attract more investors from the region, however DRC joining the bloc gives better access to facilities such as the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa
Recently East African Community leaders okayed entry of Democratic Republic of Congo into the bloc, ending a long journey. As we celebrate history and welcome our Congolese brothers and sisters into the region, we should grab opportunities along the way. We anticipate increase in number of French speakers, trade, culture, entertainment and marriages. However, for non-French and Swahili speakers it’s an opportunity to learn this language to communicate well with our counterparts.
English and Swahili are currently the official languages of the East African Community, although there has been talk about introducing French, which is spoken in Rwanda and Burundi. Although EAC heads of state have approved the admission of DR Congo into the bloc, Congolese lawmakers still have to ratify the EAC laws and regulations before they come into effect. Congolese citizens wishing to visit the other member countries – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – without a visa may need to wait a little longer because full integration into the EAC could take months or even a year.
This will allow Congolese citizens to travel freely to the other countries and trade will become much quicker, simpler and cheaper, which should benefit businesses and consumers in all countries. The country shares borders with all EAC members except Kenya, and hopes to attract more investors from the region, however DRC joining the bloc gives better access to facilities such as the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa.
Import taxes for goods accepted as being made in DR Congo will be removed or greatly reduced when entering the other countries, while transporting goods will become much cheaper. There will be faster clearance of goods. Once the one-stop border post opens, customs officials from both Uganda and DRC will sit in the same building to clear goods and people. The inclusion of DR Congo’s consumer market of close to 90 million people will expand the EAC market to almost 300 million, and open the bloc to the Congolese economy which is rich in all kinds of natural resources.
DR Congo’s inclusion will boost the bloc’s bargaining power globally as you wish to know numbers matter in international trade – the addition of DRC’s economy to the community implies increased purchasing power. This potential expansion of trade links from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic would help expand the region’s economic potential at a time when the continent is working to implement the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).
Since infrastructure is supposed to catalyse trade at the border, Uganda embarked on a 223km regional road connectivity worth $330m. The aim is to build three roads to improve communications between Uganda and the eastern DRC cities of Beni, Goma and Butembo,. Each government contributed 20 percent of the cost, and the remainder will be raised by Dott.
Secondly harmonising peace and security is good as well because insecurity restricts trade, however, more official trade between the EAC and DRC may actually reduce conflict in the eastern part of DRC as it would reduce smuggling as a result of greater cooperation in various areas including customs, trade, and security.
In December 2021, Ugandan troops crossed into DR Congo at the invitation of the Congolese government to help eliminate the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), one of many armed groups wreaking havoc in the resource-rich east of the country. Going forward, we expect an EAC that is multilingual, which could even lead to more interaction between EAC citizens and the Francophone countries in Central Africa.
Bishop Samuel, head of Communication and Media Relations, Ministry of East African Community Affairs in Uganda
