Insatiable opportunities in the DRC.
Often referred to as the 'Giant of Africa', the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) presents a huge trade opportunity. With a population of approximately 81 million people, it holds almost half of the population of the EAC member states and thus a huge market. So far, almost half of the trade between the DRC and the EAC is informal, implying that the potential for trade hasn’t been optimized.
Despite its geographic proximity, EAC’s trade with the DRC is surprisingly very low. In fact, the combined exports of all the EAC partner states into the DRC, does not match that of South-Africa. Over the last 7 years, the proportion of EAC exports to the DRC has averaged 13.5%.
For details, click on the following link: https://bit.ly/DRC-EAC
Biscuits
In the period 2016-2020, Uganda imported sweet biscuits worth UGX 157.7 Billion !
Sesamum Seeds (Simsim)
Sesamum seeds (Simsim) are a significant export earner for Uganda. In 2020, Uganda exported sesamum seeds worth $ 35.5 million, up from $14.5 million in 2016. Most of it is destined for China. Trade flow data shows that in 2020, Uganda only supplied 1.4% of China’s Sesamum seeds imports.
Vegetables, roots & Tubers
The imports of vegetables into Uganda have significantly risen over in the period 2016-2020 (see the graph in figure 1 below). In 2020, Uganda imported vegetables worth $ 34.1 million, and most of it ($18.1 million) was supplied by Kenya. The trade flow data also shows that some of the vegetables were sourced from as far as; China, Turkey and the Netherlands.
