Support to East African Integration

Project description

Title: Support to East African Integration
Commissioned by: German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ)
Country: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda
Lead executing agency: Secretariat of the East African Community (EAC); Arusha (Tanzania)
Overall term: 2022 to 2025

Context

The East African Community (EAC) is the most integrated regional economic organisation in Africa according to the Africa Regional Integration Index. Indeed, trade-related integration is more advanced than in other regional economic communities in Africa, as demonstrated by the introduction of common external tariffs. Nevertheless, non-tariff barriers are still an obstacle to implementing the Customs Union and the Common Market. Agreements on the liberalisation of regional trade in service and the mobility of labour have been reached, but their implementation is still in progress. Private business and civil society are often not well-informed about the state of integration. In addition, they lack regional networks that are needed to take on an active role in the integration process.

Objective

Institutional and regulatory framework conditions for regional and continental trade are improving in the East African Community.

Approach

The project aims to:

• Promote regional and continental trade in goods (e.g., through regional value addition in the fruits and vegetables as well as pharmaceutical sectors and through increased access to regional, continental and international markets).
• Support the East African Community in coordinating the implementation of regional and continental trade in services agreements.
• Support organisational development at the EAC Secretariat in order to improve its ability to steer the integration process and implement the 6th EAC Development Strategy.

Last update: Oktober 2022