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The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has signed a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (CEPA) with the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the UAE state news agency Wam.
The agreement was signed on Monday in Abu Dhabi in the presence of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, Wam reported.
In the agency-published report, Sheikh Mohamed said that the agreement is intended to support the two nations’ development goals and improve trade and investment relations.
The CEPA is expected to reduce tariffs and ease trade barriers, “significantly enhancing investment flows” and creating opportunities for private-sector collaboration across key sectors, including mining, agriculture, and clean energy, Wam added.
Sheikh Mohamed also wrote on X, saying, “I was pleased to witness the signing of a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement today alongside President Felix Tshisekedi.”
“This CEPA will enable the UAE and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to work together in further stimulating mutually beneficial progress and development,” he added, “in line with our two countries’ commitment to strengthening trade and investment ties.”
DR Congo is a major producer of cobalt and other minerals used in electric vehicles and energy technologies.
Wam said the two leaders also witnessed the signing of an initial agreement on investment cooperation in the mining sector and a memorandum between the Anwar Gargash Diplomatic Academy and the Congolese Diplomatic Academy.
The report also stated that the two countries agreed to cooperate on maritime transport.
The DRC offers a “strategic entry point” for the UAE to expand trade across Central and Eastern Africa, the Wam report said.
The UAE government considers the DRC a “strategic entry point” for expanding trade in Central and Eastern Africa, according to the report.
Wam said non-oil trade between the UAE and the DRC reached $2.9 billion in the first nine months of 2025, representing an increase of more than 16 per cent compared with the same period a year earlier.
The CEPA forms part of the UAE’s broader strategy to expand non-oil foreign trade to more than $1.1 trillion by 2031.
