The latest data from the World Bank Group shows that the neighbouring Democratic Republic of Congo has great trade potential as Rwanda’s trading partner.

The report noted that DRC is a growing trade opportunity for Rwanda with exports having grown considerably in the last decade. The data showed that Rwanda exports to DRC are more than to East African Community countries combined.

The main exports to the DRC include livestock and crops, but cross-border trade in services, such as finance, transportation, and wholesale trading, are also important.

Non-EAC neighboring markets have proved to be more dynamic in recent years, and are expected to grow especially in the advent of the African Continental Free Trade Area.

This is also at a time when statistics from the World Bank show that since 2012 Rwanda’s exports to the East African Community have somewhat stagnated. 

Data shows that when Rwanda joined the EAC customs union in 2009, exports of goods to EAC partners more than doubled in the following three years to 23 per cent of the country’s total goods exports.

However, since 2012 Rwanda’s exports to the EAC have almost stagnated with Rwanda’s total exports increasing substantially on average 17 per cent per year from 2010-19.

This has seen the country not be able to benefit from regional integration beyond price reduction conferred by tariff reduction.

Among the reasons for such outcomes is the similarities of export products among EAC partners as most countries export almost the same set of products.

Among the recommendations from trade experts is that Rwanda has an opportunity to export relatively sophisticated products through value addition to bigger markets.

To improve the trade outcomes, it’s time for policy experts to set up measures for value addition and high value products that can compete in the region and beyond.

With most of the region and neighbouring countries producing similar goods, it’s time to adjust Rwanda’s offerings by value addition as well as production of alternative goods.

This can be through working with SMEs who often have the largest impact in trade outcomes of a nation.