Emirates and DRC sign free trade pact to support SME growth

• Deal to reduce tariffs and scrap trade barriers
• Sectors include mines, farming, clean energy
• Smaller companies should benefit

The UAE and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have signed a comprehensive economic partnership agreement (Cepa) to facilitate investment and support small and medium-sized enterprises.

The deal will reduce tariffs and eliminate trade barriers, significantly enhancing investment flows and creating opportunities for private-sector collaboration across key sectors including mining, agriculture and clean energy, the UAE state-owned Wam news agency reported.

The Cepa was signed in the presence of the UAE president, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and his DRC counterpart Félix Tshisekedi.

The agreement marks a major step forward in economic cooperation between the UAE and the DRC by boosting trade and investment flows and stimulating mutual growth, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed said.

The DRC’s gross domestic product stands at nearly $71 billion, making it one of Africa’s top 10 economies. It offers an entry point for expanding trade across Central and Eastern Africa.

Non-oil trade between the two nations reached $3 billion in the first nine months of 2025, rising 16 percent year on year. 

The Cepa programme is a pillar of the UAE’s trade strategy, which aims to increase non-oil foreign commerce to $1.1 trillion by 2031. The UAE has concluded more than 32 Cepas, including with India, Malaysia, Angola, Ukraine, New Zealand, the Philippines, Nigeria, Kenya and the Central African Republic.

Talks on a potential Cepa with Japan have reached their final stages, while negotiations with the European Union are progressing positively, UAE minister of foreign trade Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi said earlier this week.

The Emirates’ non-oil foreign trade reached AED3.8 trillion ($1 trillion) in 2025, up 26 percent from the prior year, the minister said.

Further reading:

• UAE says trade talks with Japan and EU making progress
• UAE and Nigeria sign Cepa to ease trade barriers
• EU free trade talks advancing rapidly, UAE minister says