The 39^th Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers has approved the Final Draft Cotton, Textiles and Apparels (CTA) Strategy and its Implementation Roadmap. The strategy whose vision is to have “An integrated and globally competitive cotton, textiles and apparels industry,” makes a critical analysis of the CTA sector along the following key levels of the value chain: Cotton Seed (Production); Seed Cotton (Ginning); Cotton lint (Spinning); Yarn Weaving/Knitting/Printing/Dyeing/Finishing), and; Fabrics (Garments/Apparels/Fabrication/Manufacturing) level.

The 39^th Council which was chaired by Rwanda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and East African Community Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, was attended by line Ministers from all the EAC Partner States and EAC Executives.

The Council further approved the Final Draft Leather and Leather Products Sector Strategy and its Implementation Roadmap. The Council which met at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, further directed EAC Partner States to give priority to …

The East African Community has marked its 20^th Anniversary with pomp and fanfare at its Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

This comes as the community mulls over the inclusion of The Democratic Republic of Congo into the community, which would not only give the community a major population rise but also a coast to coast linking both the East African coast and the West African coast. Though the considerations are yet to be approved, policy analysts believe this move is a matter of when not if. However, there is still contention on whether to include the East most country, Somalia which has also expressed interest.

Uganda’s 2^nd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Hon. Dr. Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, who presided over the anniversary celebration, said that EAC Partner States would not repeat the mistake of the past that led to the collapse of the first Community.

Dr. …

Never in the history of the East African community has there been more funding than now, with the current funding for various social and infrastructural projects reaching US$3 Billion. Most of these funds have gone into inter-states projects as well as projects within a state having a regional impact.

The community has been able to achieve a tenfold increase in grants while still reducing internal expenses and costs by over 40 percent in the last four years.

Documents at our hands show that the EAC has been able to sign projects with different development agencies including Africa Development Bank, USAID, China, EU and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation worth $547,454, 168.

These documents seem to agree with Amb Libérat Mfumukeko who has been pushing for an effective secretariat that is able to raise financing on key projects while at the same time cutting on costs. This, he has argued in …

The East African Community (EAC) has acquired an $11 million funding from European Union (EU) to combat insecurity within the regional and cross border spheres.

The funding came to light yesterday in Arusha-Tanzania, whereby it targets to fuel a 45-month programme on regional response to the growing security threats in the bloc with six nations—and with the fastest growing economies in the continent.

EAC secretary general Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko launched the joint programme with the EU ambassador to Tanzania, Mr Manfredo Fanti. The Ambassador heralded the long-standing partnership between the EAC and EU in peace and security sector which is a key player to the integration process in East Africa.

The programme is rather vital to the bloc’s strategies to propel further their $193 billion combined Gross Domestic Products (GDP), which include importation and exportation of goods and services occurring via borders in the region.

According to The Citizen, the …

Looking at Africa and only pushing for aid is not in the interest of the everyday Africans.

It is about the egos of the elites and latte intellectuals who believe they have the solutions to why the continent is still poor.
As Africa’s population and economies surge, greater opportunities for development are presented, societies change, and the aspirations of everyday Africans are increasingly requiring urgent attention.
On the other hand, Germany’s energy transition anticipates a vastly more efficient and interconnected energy system in the future, one that I believe, young African technology entrepreneurs can certainly learn from and accelerate the growth of the energy sector.
With technology start-ups with the intention to build sustainable power solutions emerging across the continent particularly in the power sector, Germany can look to this market on how it can invest in Africa while providing energy and  technology solutions and African entrepreneurs can embrace German …

The value of intra-trade among East African Community (EAC) states increased to $5.98 billion in 2018 from $5.46 billion in 2017, accounting for a 9.4 per cent growth.

According to the East African Community Trade and Investment Report (2018), all EAC member states except for Burundi recorded growth in trade with their regional counterparts.

Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Kenya’s combined exports to the East African Community and Southern African Development Community regions amounted to $3.1 billion and $1.9 billion in 2018 respectively showed a report prepared by the EAC Secretariat.

In 2015 and 2016, intra-EAC trade was in the negative zone. In 2018, Burundi’s total trade with other countries in the region fell by 11 per cent to $150.9 million from $162.6 million in 2017.

Kenya’s total trade with EAC partner countries rose to $1.95 billion in 2018 from $1.86 billion in 2017 an increase of 4.7 …