Trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda is to be expanded thanks to the injection of $1 million to ease procedures.

TradeMark Africa (TMA) through the Contribution Agreement under TradeMark Africa (TMA) dubbed ‘Linking East to West’, is supporting Rwanda’s trade competitiveness between East African Community and the DRC.

Belgium and the United Kingdom through DfID are giving the money.

“The Rwanda government has contributed a lot to regional integration and trade facilitation measures between its neighbouring countries. This will considerably contribute to enhance the trade environment in the Great Lakes Region in view of strengthening peace and stability efforts in the region” Ambassador Marc Pecsteen said at the signing last week.

“Increasing cross-border trade is necessary to bridge Rwanda’s burgeoning trade deficit,” Erwin De Wandel, Minister Counselor at the Belgium Embassy Rwanda said.

He said the DRC border was a “border of opportunity” involving an estimated $192 million of formal and informal exports in 2013 from Rwanda.

De Wandel said, “Through this programme therefore, the proposed interventions will seek to increase both formal and informal exports to DRC, which will lead to a tangible impact on poverty and gender.”

Research has shown that excessive formalities at the border impacts badly on trade flows.

Source: East African Business Week

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