The African Great Lakes region ( East Africa and Central Africa ) is made up of the following African countries:

  • Burundi
  • Kenya
  • Uganda
  • Democratic Republic of Congo
  • Rwanda
  • Tanzania

The African Great Lakes are located in the Rift Valley of East Africa. The main lakes are:

  • The Lake Victoria (68,100 square kilometers, 82 meters maximum depth) is the third largest freshwater lake in the world by area
  • The Lake Tanganyika (32,900 square kilometers) is the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume
  • Other lakes are Lake Malawi, Lake Turkana, Lake Rukwa, Lake Alberto, Lake Moero, Lake Kivu, Lake Eduardo and Lake Kyoga

Lake Victoria

Lake Vitoria and Lake Tanganyika represent 25% of the world’s freshwater area without freezing 10% of the world’s fish species. The population of the African Great Lakes region: 107 million people. The main economic activities are agriculture and the fishing industry (tilapia, perch of the Nile). Kenya is the most industrialized country in the Great Lakes region

The lakes drain into three large African rivers:

  • Lake Victoria, Lake Alberto and Lake Eduardo end at the White Nile
  • Lake Tanganyika and Lake Kivu flow into the Congo River
  • Lake Malawi flows into the Zambezi River through the River Shire
  • Lake Turkana is endoreic

In 1984, the Turkana boy was discovered, an almost complete skeleton of a boy Homo erectus. The Swahili ( Bantu ) is the lingua franca of the region of the African Great Lakes.

African regional economic communities

  • Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC)
  • Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
  • East African Community (EAC)
  • COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Agreement
  • Organization for the Harmonization of Business Law in Africa (OHADA)
  • Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
  • Economic Community of Central African States (CEEAC)
  • Southern African Development Community (SADC)
  • Economic integration organizations in the Great Lakes region

Economic Community of the Great Lakes Countries (CEPGL)

The objectives of the Economic Community of the Great Lakes are to achieve regional economic development and the promotion of peace. Member countries are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.

The International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (CIRGL)

The objectives of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region are to achieve regional economic development and the promotion of peace. The headquarters of the International Conference on the Great Lakes region is in Bujumbura (Burundi). The member countries are Angola, the Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, the Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, the Sudan, the Tanzania and Zambia. The invited member countries are Botswana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Nile Basin Initiative (NBI)

The purpose of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) is to promote the economic integration regional. Member countries are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. Observer country: Eritrea