Political and Economic Drivers of Regional Integration in Africa: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) maintains membership in four Regional Economic Communities (RECs)—COMESA, SADC, ECCAS, and CEPGL—but plays a negligible role in all of them. Despite data showing the DRC is more economically integrated with southern and eastern Africa (SADC and COMESA), the government has shown a preference for integration within the central African region (ECCAS-CEMAC). This contradiction is attributed to political drivers, such as regime survival and external pressure from the EU and Belgium, rather than economic logic. The DRC's integration is further hampered by overlapping memberships, political instability, a lack of industrial diversification, and poor internal transport infrastructure that leaves its provinces more integrated with neighbors than with the national economy.

• The DRC's participation in Regional Economic Communities (RECs) is characterized by a lack of economic vision, with decisions driven by "political interests and opportunistic behaviour than a well-defined economic policy."
• The DRC is economically more integrated with southern and eastern Africa than with central Africa, as evidenced by trade volumes and a regional integration index where COMESA and SADC show higher values than ECCAS and CEPGL.
• Overlapping memberships in multiple RECs create significant operational inefficiencies for the DRC, including "low level programme implementation, low level meeting attendance, and difficulties in paying subscription fees".
• Internal fragmentation and poor transport infrastructure force the DRC to maintain multiple memberships because different provinces are more integrated with neighboring countries than with each other.
• The DRC's entry into the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in 1998 was a political move to secure military allies against Rwanda and Uganda rather than an economic decision.
• The revival of the Communauté Economique des Pays de Grands Lacs (CEPGL) was largely the result of external pressure from the EU and Belgium to ensure regional stability, rather than the will of the member states.
• Political instability and war have severely undermined the DRC's agricultural capacity and its ability to trade with neighbors; for example, in Masisi (North Kivu), production of maize and nuts fell nearly tenfold between 1992 and 2002.
• The DRC's export structure is poorly diversified and dominated by minerals (over 80% in 2006), which limits its trade potential with many African neighbors who lack the capacity to transform these raw materials.

APA

Nene, M. M. B. (2012). Political and Economic Drivers of Regional Integration in Africa: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Occasional-Paper-106.pdf

Chicago

Nene, Morisho Mwana Biningo. Political and Economic Drivers of Regional Integration in Africa: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2012. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Occasional-Paper-106.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Nene |first1=Morisho Mwana Biningo |title=Political and Economic Drivers of Regional Integration in Africa: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=January 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Occasional-Paper-106.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{nene2012political, author = {Nene, Morisho Mwana Biningo}, title = {{Political and Economic Drivers of Regional Integration in Africa: A Case Study of the Democratic Republic of Congo}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = jan, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Occasional-Paper-106.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }