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Brazzaville and Kigali recently concluded, on the occasion of a state visit by President Paul Kagame, a series of agreements, including one relating to the concession of 12,000 hectares of cultivable land for 25 years. If market gardeners seem to support this agreement on land use, economists and other analysts are skeptical and consider it rather unfavorable to Congo.
On the other side of the Ministry of Defence, on the banks of the Congo River, is one of the oldest market garden belts in Brazzaville. Léon Mayembo, in his late sixties, is the president of the cooperative that operates this space. Sitting at the foot of a mango tree, he explains to a team of young market gardeners the merits of the agreement by which Brazzaville will grant agricultural land to Kigali.
« It’s good news. We have been here for a long time, without support from the Congolese state. But, today, he went to sign the agreements with Rwanda, it’s a good deal. 12,000 hectares is huge. We will go there to work on these lands with the Rwandans to rebuild the Congolese economy. So we totally agree “, he congratulates himself.
Herman, 21, is interested in working the land. For the proper application of the agreement on the concession of cultivable land, he has a suggestion: ” Union or partnership with Rwanda is good. But, we should separate things out. If we have to bring back Rwandans, their number should be the same as that of the Congolese. In itself, the agreement is not a bad thing because unity is strength ».
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On the other hand, the economic analyst Alphonse Ndongo is skeptical. He is convinced that this partnership will benefit Rwanda more than the Congo. ” In the end, Rwanda wins under the free trade agreement. It is precisely competitive economies that will benefit from this free movement of people, goods and services. What does the Congo gain in the end? Because, there will be the made in Congo, but the financial resources will land in a bank in Kigali. So what would the Congo gain when it comes to promoting this industrial and commercial agriculture? Absolutely nothing at all “, he notes.
Alphonse Ndongo questions the real reasons for opening up to Rwanda. ” Rwanda is a thousand leagues from us. He crosses all the Democratic Republic of Congo to come and take our lands. It still seems to me like something that is poorly thought out “. The Congo has 10 to 12 million hectares of arable land of which less than 5% is exploited for subsistence farming.