DRC Finally Admitted As EAC Seventh Member

The Democratic Republic of Congo has been officially admitted to the EAC trade bloc during the 18th- Extra-Ordinary heads of state summit.

The summit was attended by Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu, South Sudan’s Salva Kiir, Rwanda’s Paul Kagala, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni and Burundi’s Vice President Prosper Bazombanza on the 22^nd December 2021.

President Uhuru Kenyatta said the move to bring more states on board is a good one, adding that DRC’s 55 million population, arable land, and rich mineral will provide huge social-economic benefits to the region.

This move follows the application by the Democratic Republic of Congo directed to the council of ministers to join the EAC on the 21st ordinary meeting held on 27th February 2021.

“Congo is part of East Africa historically, especially the eastern part of Congo. They speak Swahili, they are similar to our tribes here. It is colonialism that had kept Congo,” said Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni.

President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania on the other hand said that on the readiness of DRC to join the community, they have given directives that will expedite the finalization of the remaining processes stating the importance of DRC joining the community.

According to President Samia Suluhu, the United Republic of Tanzania continues to believe that the integration process should be rule-based and efforts should be made to ensure that all partner states adhere to the established rules procedures, and processes.

The meeting observed, among other things, the institutional and legal frameworks, policies, projects and programs, areas of cooperation with the other EAC Partner States, and DRC’s expectations from her membership to the Community.

Like its partner states, the DRC once admitted, will nominate nine members to the East African Legislative Assembly and judges to the East African Court of Justice (EACJ

The country will be the largest in the EAC bloc after Tanzania which has 947,000 square kilometers.

In terms of economic power, Charlie Robertson,  Global chief economist and head of macro strategy at Renaissance Capital says in GDP terms though, DRC adds 23 percent, pushing EAC up from $238billion to $294billion. Kenya was 28% of the old group, but will now be 19% after DRC joins, while Congo is nearly a third (31%) of the EAC combined population.