DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — September 19, 2026 — The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Tanzania have committed to preparing and signing a bilateral trade agreement within 90 days, opening a new phase in efforts to improve commerce and freight movements between the neighboring countries.

The commitment was formalized through a joint communiqué signed in Dar es Salaam on September 19, following two days of ministerial discussions. The DRC was represented by Foreign Trade Minister Julien Paluku Kahongya, while Tanzania was represented by Industry and Trade Minister Judith Salvio Kapinga.

The two governments established a joint technical team to draft the proposed agreement. The framework is also expected to create a Joint Trade Committee responsible for facilitating imports, exports and transit, monitoring implementation and addressing obstacles affecting bilateral commerce.

Focus on Customs and Dar es Salaam Cargo

The discussions covered customs coordination, mineral certification, cargo tracking and cooperation between the agencies responsible for Congolese freight moving through Tanzania.

The participating services included the DRC's Directorate General of Customs and Excise, the Multimodal Freight Management Office and the Center for Evaluation, Expertise and Certification, alongside their Tanzanian counterparts.

Both sides want to reduce the costs and processing times associated with imports and exports while improving the monitoring of cargo traveling to and from the DRC. The future agreement could therefore have direct consequences for mining exporters, importers, freight forwarders, customs agents and logistics companies using the Central Corridor.

Dar es Salaam is one of the DRC's most important gateways to the Indian Ocean. Tanzania's government previously reported that Tanzanian ports handled approximately 7.2 million tonnes of Congolese cargo in 2023.

The corridor is particularly important to eastern and southeastern DRC, where businesses rely on Tanzanian ports, railways, roads and Lake Tanganyika connections to reach international markets.