ADMISSION OF DRC INTO EAC BLOC ENTERS FINAL STAGES

DR Congo President Felix Tshisekedi speaks during a joint press conference at the end of the Summit on the Financing of African Economies in Paris on May 18, 2021. The DRC begins penultimate steps to be formally admitted into the East African Community.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has begun penultimate steps to be formally admitted into the East African Community, signalling an additional market of 90 million people for the bloc.

In Nairobi on Monday, officials of the bloc launched negotiations with Kinshasa, promising to reach a conclusion before the planned timelines of March this year when the DRC is expected to be rubberstamped by the Community’s Summit as the seventh member.

“The EAC Council of Ministers is fully committed to drive this process to a conclusion. We all must jointly work tirelessly towards this venture,” said Adan Mohamed, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs and the current chairman of the Council of Ministers for the bloc.

Mohamed spoke Monday at the official launch of negotiations at Nairobi’s Windsor Golf Hotel and Country Club, where the bloc will be ticking off crucial requirements for Kinshasa to meet, including agreeing to adopt certain laws on trade tariffs, customs, and movement of labour, to be in harmony with the bloc’s members.

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