With Congo entry, EAC’s economy hosts quarter of Africa’s population
Traders at the common border between DR Congo and Rwanda. East African Community partners stand to gain significantly from DRC’s entry with access to its almost 90 million consumer market. PHOTO | CYRIL NDEGEYA | NMG
The High-Level Retreat of EAC Heads of State on the Common Market and 22nd Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State held on July 21 and 22 in Arusha put forth key recommendations to enhance the implementation of the Common Market Protocol (CMP), one of the four pillars of the EAC’s regional integration process. These include finalising and expediting the roadmap of the integration of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), fast-tracking the verification exercise of Somalia’s admission, and concluding the roadmap for the integration of South Sudan.
DRC’s entry into the EAC is a game-changer, bringing the total number of partner states to seven and increasing the regional bloc’s GDP by 24 per cent from $193 billion to $240 billion. It also elevates the region to one of the continent’s most expansive regional economic communities with 300 million people or about 25 per cent of Africa’s population.
