Trade between DRC and Rwanda surges despite increasing political tensions

Cross Border Trade between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda has significantly increased despite the two countries being embroiled in political tensions that might escalate over time.

According to the East African, residents of both countries on both sides of the border are ignoring the ongoing tensions between them and trading freely with each other.

Patrick Muyaya, Congolese government spokesman said the border between Goma in the DRC and Rubavu district in Rwanda is one of the busiest in Africa in terms of human traffic and trade.

According to data from the World Bank, “Petite Barrière is the busiest pedestrian crossing point in the Great Lakes region, with more than 50,000 people crossing every day.” 

The Congolese authorities did not close the borders when the political crisis between the two countries started, rather they upscaled the border closure time from 5 pm to 3 pm affecting businesses.

Cross-border trading is encouraged and not restricted in the region and there is no official policy restricting it in DRC or Rwanda.

Traders indulging in cross-border trading live off their trade and often make daily commutes across the border to ply their trade.

For example, in Congo’s Goma, women from Rwanda enter the city daily to sell fresh milk while Congolese traders cross over to Rwanda to buy meat.

A contributing factor to the trade is a lack of road infrastructure linking DRC’s provinces.

“To travel to Rwanda from Goma, I have to spend just $5, whereas to go to Kinshasa and back, I need around $500,” Akilimali Chomachoma, a resident of Goma explained.

In Other Border towns like South Kivu which shares a border with Rwanda and Burundi, Congolese authorities have stepped up key initiatives to facilitate trade between the bordering countries especially Rwanda.

What to know 

There have been violent clashes between the Democratic Republic of Congo’s army and M23 rebels backed by the Rwandan government. The crisis threatens to escalate into war between both countries dragging neighboring countries into the conflict.The crisis has an ethnic undertone with traces back to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The M23 rebels are made up of mainly Tutsi who believe they are fighting a threat posed by a Congolese rebel group made up of ethnic Hutus who were perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide.The DRC government has also accused the Rwandan-backed M23 rebels of targeting its national mines and playing a role in the illicit mineral trade in the region.