{"id":220168,"date":"2022-03-23T14:45:42","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T12:45:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/drc-is-set-to-become-7th-member-of-the-east-africa-trading-bloc-whats-in-it-for-everyone\/"},"modified":"2022-03-23T14:45:42","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T12:45:42","slug":"drc-is-set-to-become-7th-member-of-the-east-africa-trading-bloc-whats-in-it-for-everyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/drc-is-set-to-become-7th-member-of-the-east-africa-trading-bloc-whats-in-it-for-everyone\/","title":{"rendered":"DRC is set to become 7th member of the east Africa trading bloc: what’s in it for everyone"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shortly after his controversial<\/a> electoral victory in early 2019, the President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Felix Tshisekedi sought to get his country admitted into the East African Community. Recently<\/a>, the East African Community ministers recommended the DRC\u2019s admission, a decision set to be formalised<\/a> by the bloc\u2019s presidents when they meet on 29 March. Regional integration expert Jonathan Ang’ani Omuchesi discusses key points of the decision.<\/em><\/p>\n

What\u2019s the state of East African Community integration?<\/h2>\n

East African Community is one of the most vibrant and best performing in Africa. This is according to the African Regional Integration Index<\/a> which ranks blocs on five aspects of integration – trade, productive, macroeconomic, infrastructural and movement of people.<\/p>\n

Currently, it has six members: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. <\/p>\n

East Africa\u2019s integration is envisioned under four pillars<\/a>. These are the customs union, the common market, the monetary union, and the political federation. So far, the bloc has been implementing protocols on a customs union and a common market. These have helped improve<\/a> trade and investments in the region since 2006 and boosted country relations. <\/p>\n

Under the customs union protocol taxes on goods produced within the region have been eliminated. East Africa is also applying a common external tariff<\/a> on imports from outside the region. <\/p>\n

In the long run, an operational customs union should open up the regional economy so that small economies are able to gain access to industries that would otherwise be out of their reach. <\/p>\n

For its part, the purpose of a common market is to ease cross-border movement of goods, persons and workers. It\u2019s implementation has seen<\/a> the east African governments harmonise immigration procedures and order border posts to operate for 24 hours. Some of the governments in the region, notably<\/a> Rwanda and Kenya, have also waived the work permit fee for citizens from the region. <\/p>\n

The bloc is now preparing the ground for its third pillar, the monetary union<\/a>. This began with the adoption and signing of the East African Monetary Union Protocol on 30 November 2013. The protocol<\/a> set a timeline of 10 years within which the partner states need to have a common currency. That\u2019s in 2023, a deadline that\u2019s unlikely to be met. There has been mixed progress in the implementation of agreed action on this front. <\/p>\n

How do countries get admitted?<\/h2>\n

The criteria for admission into the bloc is provided under Article 3 of the East African Community treaty<\/a> signed in 1999. The regional law provides the following grounds for admission of a new member:<\/p>\n