Browsing: EAC

East Africa has made huge strides in improving the tourism sector in the bloc. So far, three countries have embraced the Single Tourist visa making it easier for the bloc to market it as a single destination as well as allowing tourists access to all three countries from one visa.

The single tourist visa was introduced in 2014 as a pilot between Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda. Under the initiative, tourists can choose between a single-country visa or an EAC tourist visa. With the latter, they are allowed to move freely between the three countries for a period of up to 90 days.

In October 2020, the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) released a report citing the tourism situation in the region.

The EALA noted that certain overriding challenges, including sector underfunding, insecurity, and lack of harmonized policies and laws, need to be speedily addressed to ensure that the sector thrives.…

The connection bypass road launched by the five presidents of the East African Community (EAC) has set precedence in the importance of neighbouring countries undertaking joint projects to improve transport infrastructure between and amongst themselves.

This point is underlined in the World Bank report; “Patterns of shipping, transshipping, and distribution mean that trade depends not only on the quality of infrastructure in the two trading countries but also of that in key third party countries on the trading network.”

The point is that while two countries can come together to improve transport infrastructure, it is not enough because trade, in many cases, goes much further than the border between two countries.…

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) joined the East African Community (EAC) in March 2022 in a development that has been largely feted as positive.

This decision was reached by the heads of state of the other member countries. The BBC in a report that covered the development said that although the country had officially become a member of the regional bloc, not much would change right away. This is because at that time in March 2022 Congolese lawmakers still had to ratify the decision.

The report added that Congolese citizens looking to travel to other member countries of the East African Community had to wait a little while longer. The BBC gave the example of South Sudan which took four months to become a fully-fledged member in 2016.

• DRC recently joined the EAC which is a move expected to help the country realize its mineral potential through regional

As of 8^th April, 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) officially joined the East African Community (EAC) opening a slew of opportunities for both sides.

The Treaty of Accession was inked in Nairobi, Kenya overseeing by the then EAC Chairperson former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta alongside several other Heads of State of the EAC and of course the President of DRC, H.E. Félix-Antoine Tshisekedi Tshilombo.

• The East African Community has agreed to speed up Congo-Kinshasa’s ascension into the bloc
• DR Congo will open a new 90 million strong market to the EAC
• With input from the DR Congo, the East African Community will form a new mechanism to handle natural resource management

With the ascension, the DR Congo has up to the end of this month (29^th September, 2022) to complete its internal constitutional processes to ratify the Treaty and submit to the EAC Secretary General. …

• The East African Community (EAC) should boost its transactions under the existing regional and international trade agreements and opportunities
• EABC Chairperson Angelina Ngalula said agreements including African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) would be beneficial 
• Data shows that Intra-EAC trade is below 20 per cent, while intra-African exports are 18 per cent of total exports

The East African Community (EAC) should boost its transactions under the existing regional and international trade agreements and opportunities.

East African Business Council Chairperson Angelina Ngalula said the bloc could benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), and the Economic partnership agreement.

Quoting statistics, Ngalula noted that intra-EAC trade is below 20 per cent, intra-African exports are 18 per cent of total exports, and EAC exports to AGOA are valued at USD 5.26 billion, while EAC exports to EU stood …

• Fuel price rise across EAC
• National Assembly hears public outcry on the rising cost of living
• Governments working on solutions to lower fuel prices

Prices of essentials are increasing rapidly across the East Africa Community (EAC) from basic home needs like food and water to fuel and transportation, inflation has hit the region hard.

According to the Tanzania National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the cost of food in Tanzania increased 6.60 percent in April of 2022 over the same month in the previous year.

NBS also contends that the country’s Annual Headline Inflation Rate for the month of April, 2022 increased to 3.8% from 3.6% recorded in March 2022.

According to NBS, Headline Inflation Rate measures inflation when all items in the fixed Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket are included.

“The increase of headline inflation explains that the speed of price change for commodities for the year ended April 2022 …

Over the past decade Africa has been rife with infrastructure developments that hitherto continue to steadily transform the continent, spurring the much-needed economic development. This is well aligned to aspiration 2 of Africa’s Agenda 2063, which advocates for ‘an integrated continent politically united based on the ideas of Pan Africanism and the vision of African Renaissance’ with the key priority area of developing world class infrastructure that crisscrosses Africa.

Inadequate infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa has remained an existential hurdle to the continent’s achievement of robust economic growth. According to a report by Deloitte, this status quo has reduced national economic growth by two percentage points every year, and cut business productivity by as much as 40 per cent. In reiteration, another report by McKinsey and Company highlights that Africa faces an infrastructure paradox, in that there is need and availability of funding together with a large pipeline of potential projects …

• President Uhuru Kenyatta has achieved a lot in his tenure as the Chair of the East African Community, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki has said
• Mathuki pointed out that other key achievements of President Kenyatta as the EAC chair include the admission of DR Congo into the community
• Mathuki said President Kenyatta’s tenure as the EAC chair also saw the implementation of the common external tariff that discouraged the importation of goods that could be produced locally

President Uhuru Kenyatta has achieved a lot in his tenure as the Chair of the East African Community, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki has said.

Speaking ahead of the 22^nd Ordinary Summit of the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State in Arusha, Tanzania, Mathuki pointed out that other key achievements of President Kenyatta as the EAC chair include the admission of DR Congo into the community.

“DRC is a full member …

The EAC Trade & Investment Report (2020) shows EAC exports globally stood at US$16.2 billion in 2020 while imports at US$35.6 billion, registering a negative trade balance of US$19.4 billion.

Agayo Ogambi from the Shippers Council of Eastern Africa said Mombasa port throughput declined by 0.9 per cent in 2020. A total of 34.13 million tonnes of cargo were handled in 2020, which is 1.8 million tonnes shy of the target of 35.90 million tonnes in 2019.

Containerized cargo declined by 4 per cent from 1.4 tonnes (2019) to 1.35 million tonnes (2020).

Ogambi called upon government agencies to render services that are commensurate to the fees charged, as outlined in Article 6 of the WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement.…

Infrastructure development continues to be a vital driver of foreign direct investment (FDI) since logistics are so necessary for global business development, mainly e-commerce, which is now a significant generator of income and jobs at home and abroad.…