\nWaiver grounds<\/b><\/p>\n
Uganda is eying toward regional integration and cross-border trade. In 2022, the DR Congo joined the East African Community (EAC) as its seventh member. The Ugandan Internal Affairs Ministry noted that the decision to abolish visa requirements for Congolese nationals followed the signing of the Treaty of Accession to join the East African bloc on July 11, 2022. During the 8th joint permanent commission held between October, 11 and 15 in Kinshasa, both parties agreed in principle to waive visa requirements for citizens on a reciprocal principle. It was due to the above agreement, that Cabinet Minute 374 (CT 2023) considered the matter, and it was resolved to remove the visa requirement for Ugandan and Congolese nationals to enter and exit the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Uganda, respectively, it added.<\/p>\n
DR Congo\u2019s request<\/b>
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In November, the DR Congo’s Information and Communication Minister Patrick Muyaya while attending the East African Entrepreneurship Conference & Expo organized by the Nation Media Group (NMG) in Kinshasa urged member states to allow DR Congo citizens to enter their borders because the country is also a member and wants to connect with the region. The Congolese minister’s proposal was seconded by the Kenyan Ambassador to the DRC Dr George Masafu who added that visa requirements have been barriers to markets, and now borders must become bridges.<\/p>\n
Free movement benefits<\/b><\/p>\n
With the waiver, DR Congo is now able to enjoy the benefits of the region, including free movement of people among member states as specified in the EAC Common Market Protocol, wherein partner states are required by Article 7(2)d to permit citizens of other partner states to enter without a visa. Ugandans can also access all countries in the East African Community, except for Somalia which has just joined the bloc and the protocols are not yet signed. The East African bloc now has eight countries including Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, South Sudan, Rwanda, DR Congo, and lately Somalia. The abolishment of visa requirements is expected to speed up the movement of persons from these countries but also enhance trade. Regional trading blocs such as the EAC are crucial in promoting economic growth by enabling countries to work together to create economies of scale, attract investment, and promote trade. Article 10 of the EAC Common Market Protocol states that citizens of EAC Partner States are at liberty to accept employment within the territories of Partner States other than their own.<\/p>\n
The two nations’ economic relations<\/b><\/p>\n
Uganda and DR Congo being neighbouring countries cooperate in many economic activities such as farming, mining, and forestry, Uganda and the DRC have shared ties even before the latter became a member of the EAC bloc in 2021. Uganda now seeks to increase its trade surplus with the DR Congo, which earned it USD 241 million in 2020, as well as an estimated USD 177 million in informal trade exports, bringing the total trade earnings to USD 418 million, according to official trade data. Uganda and DR Congo are working together to build three road projects inside DR Congo that will facilitate the transportation of perishable goods across borders without incurring losses and provide access to profitable mining concessions in the Congo. The first 54-kilometer segment will integrate the Beni-Butebo axis, while the first will travel 80 kilometres from Kasindi to Beni. The third will travel 89 km, passing through Rutshuru and Goma, before ending in the border town of Bunagana.<\/p>\n
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\nDRC ready for business<\/b><\/p>\n
At the beginning of this year, business leaders from East Africa said that the Democratic Republic of Congo is ripe for business following commitments by the country that it is reviewing regulations to ease doing business in the country. Business executives expressed optimism about the reforms that the President of DR Congo Felix Tshisekedi administration has instituted to facilitate investment in the country that has suffered decades of political uncertainty. Uganda\u2019s Ministry of Trade said in a brief statement that over the past four years, there have been deliberate efforts to connect Ugandan suppliers with buyers in the DRC, but the main hindrance has been security. Adding that they have hosted several DR Congo potential buyers here in Uganda in a bid to connect them with suppliers. And that they have also facilitated Ugandan manufacturers and traders to go to DR Congo for business-to-business meetings under the Uganda-DRC summit. Uganda becomes the third EAC Partner State to waive visa requirements for DRC citizens after Kenya and Tanzania.<\/p>\n
For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Faridah N Kulumba Africa-Press – Uganda. On Monday this week, the government of Uganda announced that Democratic Republic of Congo citizens visiting its territory would no longer need visas starting January 1, 2024. According to the statement that was issued by the Ugandan Ministry of Internal Affairs, clarified that as of next year, Congolese nationals […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":63098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,258],"tags":[233,240,234],"class_list":["post-63099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-uganda","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\n