Source: ChinaDaily & Africanews March 30, 2022
By Otiato Opali in Nairobi & Gaël Mpoyo Ngole Editor: Riley Zhang
President of DRC expected prospects when EAC members welcomed its new partner on Tuesday, while citizens expressed concerns.
EAC Heads of State officially admit the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) into the East African Community. East African Community
The membership Democratic Republic of the Congo was officially approved at the at the 19th Extraordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State conducted virtually on Tuesday, admitting DRC as the 7th member state of East Africa Community.
The DRC's application to the regional bloc was submitted in 2019, hoping to boost trade and strengthen political ties with its neighbors. It will join EAC's cooperation in all sectors, programs and activities, adding the country's more than 90 million market population to the trading bloc.
Congelese president Tshisekedi lauded the organization when giving a speech at the virtual summit meeting: "I have always considered the East African Community was the best compared to other sub-regional economic blocs in Africa, in terms of free movement of people and goods, infrastructure integration and trade."
Speaking from State House Nairobi in Kenya's capital, President Uhuru Kenyatta, also the current chair of the bloc, said admission of the DRC to the East African Community marks a momentous occasion in the region's integration.
Through a report released by the EAC secretariat on Sunday, EAC secretary general Peter Mathuki noted DRC joining the community will open the corridor from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, as well as North to South, hence expanding the economic potential of the region.
In addition to the prospects and potential benefits expected by DRC President and EAC members, activists and experts from DRC still expressed their concerns on the admission.
"If it is a matter of what the DRC can bring to the table, this is where the problem lies. There are many questions, fears and concerns, because we do not make many products that we could sell to other states in this community," said Espoir Ngalukiye, an activist and former journalist in DRC.
Stewart Muhindo, researcher at the the civil society movement LUCHA, raised concerns on both national security and ecomny. "I believe we are exposed in terms of security because we’re now part of an organization that also has states that's been hostile, Stewart Muhindo analyses. "Economically we are very weak. Our economic environment is not good enough and that risks making us a market for other states to sell off their products."
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