The East African Community’s (EAC) membership has grown to seven with the official admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo as a new member. The other members are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan.
The landlocked central African nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), with 40 kilometers of coastline on the Atlantic Ocean, has been admitted to the EAC.
The DRC is the second largest country on the African continent after the north African nation of Algeria and has a population of 94,300,000.
EAC's Mission
The EAC’s mission is to widen and deepen economic, political, social, and cultural integration in order to improve the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, production, trade and investments. It was founded 20 years ago.
Speaking about the DRC, the chairperson of the East African Community, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, told the virtual meeting:
“The admission of the Democratic republic of Congo, to the East African Community, demonstrates the agility of the Community to expand beyond its socio-cultural boundaries to new people and trade-centered partnerships and collaboration, thus increasing trade and investment opportunities for the citizens."
Democratic Republic of Congo’s President, Félix Tshisekedi — son of veteran opposition leader Étienne Tshisekedisi – stressed the importance EAC has for DRC:
“I have always considered the East African community as the best compared to other sub-regional economic blocs in Africa, in terms of free movement of people and goods, infrastructure integration and trade.”
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni, outlined the historical importance of admitting the Democratic Republic of Congo, to the regional bloc.
“Congo is really part of East Africa historically, especially the eastern part of Congo, Indian Ocean to the Atlantic. We now need to work on the issue of peace in eastern Congo,” he said.
The mineral-rich eastern Congo that Museveni referred to is controlled by fighters from M23 rebel group, which takes its name from the date 23 March, 2009, when it signed a peace agreement with the DRC government.
The agreement envisaged integration of the group’s fighters into the government army. Now, the fighters, who belong to the Tutsi ethnic group, found in Rwanda and Burundi, are intensifying their insurgency after accusing the government of failing to respect the agreement.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame, himself a Tutsi, focused on deepening East African Community regional integration.
“Deepening regional integration will depend on improving the institutional efficiency and cost effectiveness of the East African Community. Rwanda is ready to play our part in this important task.”
The meeting also addressed the question as to whether or not it is appropriate for a country where rebels control a large part of its territory, to join the EAC. Tom Maliti, a journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya and an expert on east Africa explained:
“This is not unusual. When South Sudan was admitted as a member of the East African Community, the country itself had conflicts. Burundi was admitted to the East African Community even though there were parts of the country where there was conflict. And, I think, the aim of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is to integrate with other economies in the region.”
The DRC is rich in natural resources and has vast deposits of industrial diamonds, cobalt, and copper. The country is bordered to the north by the Central African Republic and South Sudan; to the east by Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania; to the southeast by Zambia and to the southwest by Angola.
