The Chief Executive Officer of East African Business Council (EABC), John Bosco kalisa, has urged the private sector in Republic Democratic of Congo to join the organization so as to benefit from the services provided to its members, in order to address what he terms the ‘surprising’ gap between EAC and DRC.
The remarks were made on May 9, 2022 in Goma, DRC during the official opening of the business meeting between EABC and Federation des Enterprises du Congo (FEC) at Hotel Linda. Both institutions have met to launch the African Due Diligence Platform.
EBAC CEO John Bosco Kalisa said that though DRC is often referred to as ‘ A giant of Africa” with a big market, yet most trade with EAC partner states is informal.
” Often referred to as a giant of Africa, The Democratic Republic of Congo, presents a huge trade opportunity. With approximately 81 million people, it holds almost half of EAC member states, thus a huge market. So far, almost half of the trade between DRC and EAC is informal, implying that the potential for trade hasn’t been optimized. Despite its geographic proximity, DRC’s trade with EAC is surprisingly very low.” John Bosco said
” The combined exports of all EAC partner states does not match that of South Africa. Over the last seven years, the proportion of EAC exports to DRC hase average 13.5%” He observed
Using statistical data, Kalisa revealed that Rwanda is the most exporter to DRC in 2018, at products worth 149.8 million, followed by Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi.
While closing his remarks, John Bosco Kalisa noted that EABC is committed to helping the state members to promote sustainable Private Sector-driven growth.
He emphasized that DRC private sector should join EABC after the country joined EAC this year in order to tap into the trade and investment opportunities from other six partner states of EAC.
Emmanuel Nkusi, the EABC Board Member said the EABC-FEC meeting is ” Important to inform the policy reforms needed to ease cross-border trade.”
The East African Business Council (EABC) is the apex body of Private Sector associations and Corporates from the six East African Countries. It was established in 1997 to foster the interests of the Private Sector in the integration process of the East African Community. Originally comprising members from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, its membership was expanded after 2007 to include Private Sector from Burundi, Rwanda as well as South Sudan in 2016. EABC Strength is from its broad membership network, over the 20 years EABC has strived to deliver relevant and value adding services to members and contribute to business growth and expansion in the region. Our endeavor is to provide a platform for business to business engagement, information on available opportunities across the region and beyond, training, capacity building and opportunities to influence policy reforms among other services. In the year 2004, our membership expanded to include corporate members with operations in the East Africa region, this played a significant role as it increased our membership coverage. The East African Business Council strength lies in its broad Membership network which is strong, diversified in different business sectors in the region. EABC has very close ties, robust relationships with regional, national, and sectoral Private Sector associations as well as Corporates with interest in the EAC integration process or / and operations in the region. EABC’s overarching objective is to be an effective change agent for fostering an enabling business environment and to promote private sector’s regional and global competitiveness in trade and investment. EABC therefore provides a regional platform through which the business community can present their concerns at the EAC policy level, with the overall aim of creating a more conducive business environment through targeted policy reforms. Additionally, EABC also work towards promoting private sector’s regional & global competitiveness in trade and Investment through addressing challenges experienced by Members at organizational and firm level; and through provision of tailored market intelligence. EABC’s key stakeholders are primarily the EAC Secretariat, the Business Community as represented through Members and their affiliates, National Policy Makers, EAC organs and institutions and other key national and regional organizations working towards enhancing private sector participation in the EAC and global integration. Meanwhile, there are still problems facing traders in EAC. Some decry challenges in crossing borders, movement of labors, tariffs to name a few.
Emmanuel Nkusi, the EABC Board Member during EABC-FEC meeting
EABC has an “Observer Status” at the EAC, which enables us to attend and participate in all relevant EAC activities and deliberations, not only at the Secretariat but also in other organs and institutions.
