Dr Ezra Muhumuza Rubanda, the UMA Executive Director in a recent media interview
HABARI DAILY I Kampala, Uganda I The Uganda Manufacturer’s Association (UMA) has called upon countries in the East African Community (EAC) regional block to make efforts to bring an end to the war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, saying its affecting trade inflows.
Uganda’s exports to DR Congo have been growing over the years, rising to about $433.2m (nearly Shs2 trillion) between December 2023 and November 2024, which is a growth of 40 percent from the $258.3m (Shs955b) earned in the same period between 2019 and 2020.
Throwing a spanner in the works, the DRC Government recently issued a memo in which it requested the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) to advise Ugandan traders to divert goods declared for Katuna and Cyanika to alternative DRC entry points.
“It is internationally recognized that Goma (final destination to Cyanika) and Bukavu (final destination to Katuna) are no longer under the control of the central Government of DRC,” reads part of the recently issued demo, adding that the lack of control has led to significant revenue losses to goods destined for the two towns.
When contacted by Habari Daily for a comment, Asadu Kisitu Kigozi, URA’s commissioner of the customs department, who signed the memo said that in order to mitigate significant revenue losses, all goods bound for the DRC must be declared for exit through designated border posts, excluding Katuna, Bunagana, Cyanika, Ishasha River, Busanza and Kyeshero.
Said Kigozi: “The necessary systems will be configured to temporarily deactivate these border posts for transiting goods to the DRC. This directive takes immediate effect and will remain in force until the political situation improves or further instructions are given.”
Dr Ezra Muhumuza Rubanda, the UMA executive director said that the war in DRC is a regional question, whose solution has to be crafted by countries in the EAC trade block.
“The war in the DRC is an economic war and since Congo is a member state of the regional EAC economic block, we think that the solution lies in the efforts of the economic block,” he said in a recent interview.
EAC presidents in a recent video conference
He further noted that the eight countries in the EAC have the obligation to come together because they have vested economic interests in DRC.
“For instance, we as a country, we manufacture and most of what we produce goes to Congo. Congo is also a big source of raw materials for Uganda’s industry, and are also on demand globally,” he said.
Dr Rubanda henceforth called upon the heads of states to sit down and find an everlasting solution that will enable economic stability in Congo.
“Political stability in Congo is dependent on economic stability in that country. Unless the regional powers open up and address these economic questions directly, we may for many years not have lasting political solution,” he said.
He further pointed out that regional foreign investment has for several years flowed from regional countries such as Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, among others, and that these need to be protected.
Uganda, Kenya, and Rwanda’s exports to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) surpassed $2.9 billion in the 33 months ending September 2024.
According to the EAC, the DRC has a road network of 153,000 km of which 58,000 km are of General interest (national roads), 88,000 km are rural roads while 7000 km are urban roads. Out of this only 3,500 km, representing about 6% are tarmacked.
It also has a total of 4,000 km of railways, in addition to 13,450 km of navigable waterways.
DRC also has 4 international airports (Goma, Kisangani, Kinshasa and Lubumbashi) and more than 500 airstrips.
