Timber Trade in Africa’s Great Lakes: The Road from Beni, DRC to Kampala, Uganda

This report examines the drivers and flows of tropical timber exports from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) through Uganda to regional markets, highlighting the prevalence of unregulated trade and the disparity in benefits among actors within the supply chain.

• The majority of tropical timber found in East African markets originates from the eastern DRC, with approximately 80% of this timber exiting the eastern DRC via the border with Uganda. This flow is characterized as being largely unregulated and generating minimal revenue for the DRC.
• While international demand in Europe and the US is increasingly regulated by mechanisms like the US Lacey Act and EU-supported Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (including Voluntary Partnership Agreements), most timber from the eastern DRC currently supplies regional markets rather than being exported globally.
• Uganda acts as both a consumer market and a transit point for timber destined for South Sudan and Kenya, with Kenya identified as the largest regional consumer of Congolese timber. The regional trade is described as small scale, largely informal, and subject to less regulatory pressure than international trade due to timber shortages in East Africa.
• Within the Ugandan portion of the timber chain, financial benefits are unevenly distributed. Middlemen, a select group of traders, and individuals with political connections benefit the most—the latter often by undercutting prices—while timber cutters and truck drivers bear the majority of the risk.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2012). Timber Trade in Africa’s Great Lakes: The Road from Beni, DRC to Kampala, Uganda. https://saiia.org.za/research/timber-trade-in-africas-great-lakes-the-road-from-beni-drc-to-kampala-uganda/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Timber Trade in Africa’s Great Lakes: The Road from Beni, DRC to Kampala, Uganda. 2012. https://saiia.org.za/research/timber-trade-in-africas-great-lakes-the-road-from-beni-drc-to-kampala-uganda/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Timber Trade in Africa’s Great Lakes: The Road from Beni, DRC to Kampala, Uganda |date=15 July 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/research/timber-trade-in-africas-great-lakes-the-road-from-beni-drc-to-kampala-uganda/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2012timber, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Timber Trade in Africa’s Great Lakes: The Road from Beni, DRC to Kampala, Uganda}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/research/timber-trade-in-africas-great-lakes-the-road-from-beni-drc-to-kampala-uganda/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }