Last week, Rwanda president Paul Kagame sounded war drums in a terse tone to an anxious parliamentary chamber. The president promised hell to his country’s enemies who have “gone behind their backs.” This came on the backdrop of a relatively successful year in the region marked by several positive developments.

The DR Congo is open for business, leading a number of high-powered trade missions in the region. Peace in the DRC has also given breathing space to the Banyarwanda/Banyamulenge diaspora to trade at the borders and further inland. The local unit has absorbed this effect in its strengthening against the US dollar at a record 3,680 to the greenback up from 3,950 in July 2018.

The DRC has started talking to Uganda over the $10 billion war debt arising from liability imputed by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

Inside the DRC, there may be some tension between former president Joseph Kabila’s party, which is normal as he wants to potentially run for office again, but president Tshisekedi hasn’t run into direct combat with him, leaving that task for his Chief of Staff and political coalition partner.

There is now a big opportunity for Uganda and Rwanda to relocate factories into the Congo, especially if DRC’s application to enter the East African Community, (EAC) is considered.

In South Sudan, the warring parties are being nudged towards a settlement. Even Pope Francis and Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby are planning to come. The price of crude oil may yet even recover making the economics of the deal more urgent. All major airlines are keeping the planes flying to Juba as they wait for a breakthrough.

Burundi had a big picture doing the rounds on social media of the president welcoming back his wife from a big trip at their State House. Quietly Uganda Airlines has cleaned the cloak of traffic to Bujumbura.

Source: Daily Monitor

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.