The Republic of Congo has secured a landmark economic agreement with China, becoming the first nation in Africa to implement the Economic Partnership Contract for Shared Development on Early Harvests (Cadepa). This bilateral accord, which took immediate effect following a joint declaration in June 2025, grants full customs duty exemption for an expansive portfolio of Congolese agricultural products entering the Chinese market, a pivotal step intended to redefine trade away from raw extractive commodities toward sustainable, value-added exports.
This agreement is a direct institutional commitment to address the long-standing structural imbalance in Africa-China trade, where Africa typically exports low-value raw materials, such as crude oil and copper from Congo, and imports high-value finished goods. By removing tariffs, the Cadepa effectively eliminates a major financial barrier, instantly making a broad range of Congolese exports, including cocoa, specialty woods, and processed foods, significantly more competitive in the immense Chinese consumer base.
This action directly supports China’s pledge to grant zero-tariff treatment on 100 percent of tariff lines for African countries with diplomatic relations, paving the way for similar pacts across the continent.
Read also: TotalEnergies and DelAgua drive 200,000 cookstove rollout across rural Rwanda
The tariff removal provides a powerful market signal to invest in local agricultural value chains. Instead of merely selling logs or unprocessed beans, the duty-free status incentivizes Congolese businesses to spend capital on processing, packaging, and refining goods domestically. This critical shift is crucial for job creation and economic diversification, pillars of the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Countries like Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which rely heavily on mineral resources, struggle with high rates of youth unemployment precisely because raw commodity exports offer limited local processing or manufacturing jobs. By contrast, a thriving agro-processing sector builds resilience against volatile global mineral prices and enhances national food security.
The Congo-China deal serves as a tangible model for other African trade partners. The success of similar zero-tariff benefits is already evidenced elsewhere: Kenyan exporters have seen rapidly expanding market access for agricultural goods like avocados, and countries like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire are now incentivized to move from exporting raw cocoa beans to high-value cocoa derivatives and chocolate products.
Read also: South Africa’s Glass industry races to cut emissions as demand surges towards 2030
These opportunities drive investments not just in farming acreage, but in cold-chain logistics, quality assurance, and certification, essential non-tariff infrastructure that Africa needs to compete globally. The Cadepa agreement provides the long-term, predictable institutional support necessary to transform Africa’s role in global commerce, turning it from a source of low-value inputs into a robust, diversified supplier of sophisticated consumer products.
Engage with us on LinkedIn: Africa Sustainability Matters
