DRC closing in on EAC membership
The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo has reaffirmed its commitment to expediting the process of joining the East African Community (EAC) as negotiations commence in Nairobi, Kenya.
The negotiations are being led by the EAC’s Dr Alice Yalla and the DRC’s Prof Serge Kabeya.
The deputy prime minister, who also serves as the minister of foreign affairs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Christophe Pen’Apala, said his country had the guts to champion increased trade and investment.
He said this while addressing journalists after the East African Community negotiations with the DRC started in Nairobi, Kenya, to clear the ground for the admission of the DRC as the seventh partner state in the community.
Apala stressed their willingness to bolster bilateral relations with the EAC partner states, adding the aforesaid cooperation would enhance the maximum exploitation of natural and human resources across the region.
“The DRC was keen on cooperating with the EAC for maximum exploitation of both natural and human resources in the region (and) expressed hope that this would be the last round of negotiations before the DRC is admitted into the EAC,” Pen’Apala said.
“The DRC has a large population of consumers who constitute a large market for the EAC. The DRC is also in dire need of investors and offers incentives for entrepreneurs who would like to invest in the country.”
The deputy prime minister said that eastern DRC was struck by grave security concerns that could be easily tackled with the support of the EAC.
He said the country had embarked on a national program of reconstruction in various sectors, including infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and environmental conservation.
Pen’Apala stressed that the country has the world’s second-largest natural ecosystem in the Congo forest, and they are keen on preserving this system from wanton destruction to mitigate the effects of climate change.
Committed to change
Asked whether DRC’s membership in EAC would pose challenges because it already belongs to COMESA and SADC, Pen’Apala said there was no problem with multiple memberships in various regional economic communities (RECs), adding all RECs in Africa were working in harmony to ensure that Africa becomes a real common market by the year 2063.
The Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Adan Mohamed, disclosed that the negotiations between DRC and the EAC would last for 10 days, after which the resolution would be presented to the Summit of EAC Heads of States for approval.
According to Mohamed, the admission of the DRC will boost regional trade by filling gaps in continental and global trade.
The EAC Secretary General, Peter Mathuki, said the EAC expects unaltered negotiations for the sake of increasing trade and investment in East Africa. Mathuki added that the progress made thus far has been remarkable, particularly the visit of the Verification Mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo in June and July 2020.
“As you are aware, at the 18th Extra-Ordinary Summit of Heads of State, the summit received and considered the report of the Council on the Verification Mission on the Admission of the DRC to join the EAC and directed the Council to expeditiously commence and conclude negotiations with the DRC for admission to the East African Community and report to the next summit,” said Dr Mathuki.
Mathuki described the negotiations as “an important milestone in the entire roadmap for the admission of DRC into the EAC.”
Once this phase is completed successfully, it will pave the way for the accession phase, which will conclude the admission process, and the DRC will be admitted as the EAC’s seventh member, according to Dr Mathuki.
“DRC’s intention to join the community is not by default. The DRC shares borders with five EAC Partner States, namely Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan,” added the Secretary-General.
The opening ceremony was attended by the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Ngoga Martin; the Judge President of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), Nestor Kayobera; EALA member Kennedy Kalonzo; Kenya’s EAC Affairs Principal Secretary Kevit Desai; and the Undersecretary in the Ministry of EAC Affairs, Andrea Ariik Malueth.
Call for negotiations
Last year, the East African Community pledged its readiness to admit the Democratic Republic of Congo when the resolution for its admission has been assented to by the heads of state.
The report, which was presented to the EAC Council of Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs at their 44th Extra-Ordinary Meeting, recommended that DRC be admitted into the community as the seventh partner state.
The report entailed institutional frameworks, legal frameworks, policies, projects, and programs, areas of cooperation between the DRC and other partner states, and the membership expectations in the community, to mention but a few.
The EAC Secretary General, Peter Mathuki, commented that the DRC, among other partners, would be a resourceful partner state in terms of the expansion of opportunities for markets and investments.
“With the DRC’s participation, the community will open a corridor from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as from north to south, thereby expanding the region’s economic potential,” Mathuki said.
