Democratic Republic of Congo Joins The East African Community: The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has joined the East African Community (EAC), greatly extending the trading bloc’s area, providing access to the Atlantic Ocean, and significantly boosting the number of French speakers in what began as a club of former British colonies.
The East African Community chiefs of state authorized the entry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo into the bloc on Tuesday, but while it is now technically a member, not much can change immediately. Before the East African Community’s laws and regulations take effect, Congolese legislators must approve them.
Congolese people planning to visit other East African Community member countries — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda – without a visa may have to wait a little longer, since full integration into the East African Community might take months or perhaps a year, Democratic Republic of Congo Joins The East African Community.
South Sudan, for example, took four months from the signing of the community treaty in April 2016 to becoming a full member of the East African Community in August of that year.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo applied for membership in 2019, with the goal of strengthening commercial and political ties with its East African neighbors. It would enable Congolese citizens to freely travel to other countries, and trade will become faster, simpler, and less expensive, benefitting businesses and consumers globally.
Except for Kenya, the country shares borders with other EAC members and hopes to attract more investors from the region. The Democratic Republic of the Congo has gained better access to infrastructure, such as the Indian Ocean ports of Dar es Salaam and Mombasa, by entering the EAC.
Import duties on commodities produced in the Democratic Republic of the Congo will be removed or greatly lowered when entering other nations, and shipping products will become significantly cheaper.
Congolese businesspeople are finding it difficult to travel to Uganda since acquiring travel permits to enter Uganda costs $45 on the DR Congo side of the border. They must pay $50 for a visa when they arrive in Uganda. Then there’s the cost of a Covid-19 test, which brings the total to more over $120.
The accession of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s consumer market of over 90 million people expands the EAC market to almost 300 million people and exposes the bloc to the Congolese economy, which is rich in natural resources of various sorts.
The entry of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) into the East African Community will increase tourism in the area and make passage between the states more easier for passengers if the nation, like its neighbors Uganda, Rwanda, and Kenya, adopts the East African Tourist Visa.
Visiting the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tourism in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is mostly concentrated in the eastern region, with the bulk of visitors visiting the Virunga National Park in Goma and the Kahuzi Biega National Park in Bukavu.
The Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is notable for housing half of the world’s surviving mountain gorilla populations, with the other half found in Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable National Park and Mgahinga Gorilla National Park, as well as Rwanda’s Volcanoes National Park.
Let us not forget how many people have travelled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo only to walk the famed Nyiragongo Mount, which is home to the world’s biggest lava lake. The major attraction of any climb on Mount Nyiragongo in Congo is its molten lava lake, which has captivated hikers with its natural beauty and red light sky, as if mirroring the red hot lava flowing at the peak of the active volcanic mountain.
The Kahuzi Biega National Park in Congo is also well-known for its population of eastern lowland gorillas. The national park allows people to follow Eastern lowland gorillas for a price of $400 per gorilla permit. A visit to the Lwiro Sanctuary allows people to combine lowland gorilla trekking with the possibility to encounter habituated chimps.
With the Democratic Republic of the Congo now a member of the East African Community, travellers may easily combine a Congo safari with a wildlife or gorilla safari in Uganda or Rwanda, as well as a wildlife safari in Kenya or Tanzania. Traveling across borders has just become simpler with the addition of the Democratic Republic of the Congo as an East African member state.
