Kinshasa, April 9th, 2025 (CPA). – Strategies aimed at speeding up the removal of tariff barriers for a continental customs union were discussed on Wednesday during technical preparatory work for the 16th meeting of the Council of Trade Ministers of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ZLECAF), held in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It’s not just a question of abolishing customs duties. We must also ensure that our country remains competitive. ‘The need to improve infrastructure – roads, railways, energy, etc. – are all essential levers if Congolese companies are in turn to be able to produce, process and export’, said Julien Paluku Kahongya, ‘the DRC’s Minister in charge of foreign trade. The DRC wants to avoid the trap of a passive market and is banking on infrastructure to benefit from continental integration’, he added.
The Minister in charge of foreign trade recalled that the Coordination of the ZLECAF National Council had also assessed the DRC’s progress in integrating this regional market, which aims to go beyond mere formal membership of the ZLECAF (African Continental Free Trade Area), specifying that particular emphasis had been placed on the conditions to be met for this membership to truly benefit the national economy. ‘Marie Josée Fify Nlemvo, Head of Division at the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGDA), said that joining the FTAA represents a major opportunity. The DRC has more to gain than to lose by joining the FTAA,’ she said.
Kalite Deya, ZLECAF expert for the Central African Republic, also stressed the decisive role of the Kinshasa meetings in consolidating strategies for the effective implementation of the ZLECAF, highlighting the many opportunities it offers member nations. Since ratifying the agreement in 2022, the DRC has begun the process of dismantling tariffs on 6,439 products over a ten-year period. However, 209 products deemed sensitive will remain excluded from this liberalisation. This gradual approach is designed to protect certain sectors, while gradually integrating the country into a single market that already covers a large part of the African continent.