The likelihood of ever establishing a logistics corridor linking the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) third largest trade centre in the north east, Kisangani, with the capital cities of Kampala, Nairobi and the Port of Mombasa on Africa’s eastern seaboard has become compromised by the violence gripping a crucial town in the interior.
Situated near the Congo’s border with Uganda, Beni would be a strategic last stop for cargo transiting in and out of the DRC on such a proposed corridor that, trade analysts say, would help to unlock the agri-industrial potential of a richly fertile area.
Unfortunately Beni, for all of its geographical promise as a key-holder into that region of the Congo, is attracting attention for all the wrong reasons.
Already riven with Ebola, its verdant jungle is also not tilled for the promise to be found in the soil.
Instead it’s used, much like the Islamist group Boko Haram uses Nigeria’s north-eastern border with Cameroon, as a safe retreat by renegade army militias belonging to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), known for vicious hit-and-run tactics.
In a region notoriously familiar for forces fomenting tension, violence flared up near Beni last Friday as the ADF went on the rampage, slaying 19.
Reports coming through from neighbouring Uganda said the killing involved civilians getting hacked to death while others were beheaded.
And as the UN considered the safety of its personnel in Beni, many of whom are medical practitioners involved in the fight against Ebola, fear among the local populace is turning into an uprising of its own as protesters threaten UN peace keepers for allegedly not protecting them against insurrection.
Viewed from a much safer distance, the violence and disease crippling Beni is casting doubt on whether this area of the Congo will ever be unlocked for answering Africa’s call for increased food production.
As such it’s also not just Africa that has identified this region for its rich agricultural promise. China, primarily, believes that it’s one of the main reasons why a corridor should be taken through from the coast to Kisangani.
Unfortunately Beni’s state of violence and disease is hanging a big question mark on whether such a corridor will ever materialise.
