The Chant of Savant

Monday 25 January 2021

EAC Must Fast-Track DRC’s Membership



I recently read that the President of the DRC, Felix Tshisekedi was touring some capitals of the members of the East African Community (EAC) seeking help on how to fast-track DRC’s membership to the community. It is a wee shell-shocking to know that the EAC is myopically sitting on the application by the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to join it. Just imagine what a country of 2,345,409 km2 with the population of approx. 90 million inhabitants can offer to the regional whose size is 2,467, 202 km2. with the population of approx. 184 million inhabitants. Considering its humungous landmass, untapped resources, many economic potentialities and significance not to mention its strategic location among others, the DRC isn’t the newest potential candidate to the EAC to ignore for whoever that needs to move forwards economically, politically and socially. Its membership is of essence not only for the DRC but also the EAC in general.  Importantly, the DRC has more to offer when it comes to land and resources than the members of EAC put together. This isn’t something to ignore or becoming sluggish on. Whoever wishes the EAC fit and feat must take a shine on the DRC’s desire of becoming the member of the EAC as soon as possible. The EAC is fortunate. For, DRC’s non-EAC’s member neighbours such as Cameroon, the Central African Republic (CAR) and the Republic of Congo have no plan to form any economic community. For, they’d have already snatched this opportunity and snatch it.
            News that recently the DRC was struggling to get the EAC’s membership is a shame for not only the EAC members but also for Africa in general. That’s because the contingency caused by the lack of agency and urgency and vision doesn’t augur well for those who wish to see the EAC become a force to reckon with not only in the region but also in the continent. How can such a humungous player–––with much more and humongous resources and land to offer than all EAC members put together–––been treated with disdain while its membership to the EAC is likely to max out all goals the community has ever aspired to achieve? How come that small countries such as Burundi and Rwanda were fast-tracked as opposed to the DRC? Is there any dirty politics being played for the peril of the EAC? What’s amiss here? Who needs another if we truly face it between the duo? This piece seeks, inter alia, to answer these questions.
            Why the DRC is a very significant candidate? 
Firstly, the DRC has a chunk of population of over 80 million bin-Adams that can add up to the market regionally. Market power is something everybody wants. DRC's population is more potential than that of the EAC since the country has never been developed since independence. Thus, like South Sudan, provides a very huge market almost for everything for the members of the EAC.
            Secondly, the DRC is a humungous source of resources of value particularly minerals, timber,  lakes and rivers suitable for agricultural boom for the area not to mention wild animals of various types suitable for touristic attractions. Apart from being humungous, its land is fertile; and the weather is predictable when it comes to farming.
        Thirdly, the DRC has such a mammoth landmass the double of the size of the EAC  whose population compared to its landmass is sparser than the EAC, which can help to combat land scarcity shall the EAC decide to unite and form a single country. Shall EAC’s members think big and visionary, forming a single unitary country under whatever arrangement be it confederacy or unitary or whatever they will settle for is the surest way of not helping the DRC but also the EAC, particularly countries facing toxic ethnicity such as Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and  South Sudan.  By having the DRC in the fold, the EAC will be able to avoid schism some countries with resources have shown when it comes to fully integration. Tanzania with the landmass bigger than both original founder of EAC put together, for instance, used to drag its feet for fear of allowing other tiny countries without land or resources like it comparably to help themselves on its abundant resources and massive land. Now that the DRC–––that has more land and resources than others–––wants to join the organisation, Tanzania won’t shudder or waver to fully embrace the community. It can now hang its hat to the community with confidence that now things will work in the favour of everybody.
        Fourthly, it is important for both sides to understandably accept some facts and other issues that might be thorny. For example, the DRC is coming with its burden. For, it has its fair share in that since gaining independence has faced conflicts of all kinds because of its resources. That’s why some academics posit that the DRC suffers from resource curse whose hex can be thwarted by joining the EAC. Thus, when joining the EAC, it must know that it has something to offer and receive. Similarly, the EC has something to reciprocate with such as peacefulness and strengths coming from standing together with others. Geopolitically and strategically, the coming of the DRC to the EAC will help to reduce or thwart conflicts and insecurity resulting from them. For, within the EAC, the DRC is likely to become economically and politically stable. Burundi poses a very good example. When it joined the EAC, its civil wars lessened and later the country became politically stable as it has been ever since. If the EAC replicates the same to South Sudan and the DRC, chances are that the region will become another political and economic powerhouse to reckon with. 
        Thus, there are no any logical reasons of keeping the DRC at bay anymore. Instead of DRC entices other to join them, they need to entice it.
Fifthly, the EAC should brace itself to develop this disconnected giant. That’s because since acquiring its political independence, the country didn’t get capable and visionary leaders who’d  develop it. Instead, such a horde of corrupt rulers with the exception of the late Patrice Emery Lumumba and the current president Tshisekedi, the rest were just  visionless thugs who pointlessly squandered the country and its people. Thus, despite having all goodies mentioned above, the DRC has one of the most dilapidated and poor road infrastructures that needs to be titivated and established where there’s none. In this respect, there’s no difference between the DRC and South Sudan that faces the same underdevelopment thanks to decades of exploitation and negligence from the former Sudan–––it disaffiliated from a few years ago.  
More importantly, as argued above, the DRC has land and resources to bring to the fold while the EAC members, especially those with either facing landlessness and thus resource-lessness, have their population to offer.
        Although the DRC is on the Atlantic Ocean, it as good as a landlocked country due to the fact that its coast is not developed. Thus, it has the advantage of accessing the ports just as those countries without land and resources will be able to access them in this law of reciprocity.
In sum, the EAC has all reasons to fast-track DRC’s membership. For, if the EAC fast-track the membership of the DRC, apart from doing a right thing towards the reunification of Africa, it’ll also have actualised having a pool of critical asserts for development namely, land, resource and manpower not to mention the market thereof. Therefore, dragging feet on bringing the DRC to the fold doesn’t only adversely and equally affect the DRC but also the EAC. Tshisekedi as any visionary leader has played his role. The ball now is in EAC’s court to do all the needful. It doesn’t fall in place to have such a giant languishing in bureaucracy while it poses to hugely benefit the EAC and thereby improve its power and standing economically globally and regionally.
Source: African Executive Magazine.

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