In his closing statement at the virtual 18th extra-ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State, on December 22, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, said that "despite the many achievements our Community has secured,” more work still remains to be done.

It is therefore imperative, the Chairperson of the Summit said, that all stakeholders combine their efforts in overseeing the realization of the objectives of the EAC Treaty and furthering the East African Dream. 

Kenyatta re-affirmed the commitment of the Summit to the EAC integration process. 

"We are certainly sure that this is an effective vehicle for the economic development and prosperity of the people of East Africa. We, therefore, continue to prioritize the Community agenda at both national and regional levels,” Kenyatta said.

Despite the "challenges that we continue to face,” Kenyatta said, he was encouraged by the fact that "our quest for a path of greater solidarity and shared prosperity” within the region, has continued to deepen.  

Neither Kenyatta, nor his counterparts, talked about challenges such as the icy relations between Kigali and Kampala, or the persistent delays in the ratification of EAC Protocols – which is slowing down bloc’s integration agenda – but there remained an air of optimism. 

Kenyatta said: "Indeed, it is notable that work is progressing well in the implementation of the four pillars of EAC integration; namely the Customs Union, the Common Market, the Monetary Union, and Political Federation.”

DR Congo 

As noted, a key plank of the leaders’ December 22 deliberations was progressing the aspirations of the DR Congo, to join the EAC. That day, Kenyatta, Rwanda’s Paul Kagame, Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni recommended that imminent negotiations paving way for DR Congo’s admission into the bloc be undertaken with speed and efficiency. Burundi’s Vice President Prosper Bazombanza and South Sudan’s EAC Minister, Deng Alor Kuol, represented their respective countries, in making the decision. 

In terms of geopolitical location, DR Congo has potential to open the corridor from the Indian Ocean to Atlantic Trade Corridor and link the region to North Africa, Central Africa and other continental sub regions. Among others, DR Congo’s admission presents enormous opportunities for the region in terms of enhanced market opportunities and collaboration to address trade related barriers.

Kenyatta said: "I consider this as a testament of not only the success of the EAC project, but, also the opportunities that remain untapped. This is also an affirmation of our efforts to deepen integration and widen cooperation, as aptly captioned by the theme of this Summit.” 

Seven out of the 10 agreed steps of the DR Congo’s admission roadmap have already been undertaken; paving way for DR Congo to, in the very near future, bring to the bloc an additional market of about 90 million people and $49.87 billion GDP.

Business community role in furthering integration

The EAC Treaty recognizes the pivotal role played by the private sector in the integration process and, Kenyatta commended the business community for the role it continues to play in furthering integration.

He said: "Moving forward as governments we commit to continue to facilitate the exploits of our enterprises by improving the business environment in our respective nations, as well as coordinating a more uniform and more conducive intra-EAC business and trade environment.”

At the EAC Secretariat, the executive organ of the Community, Kenya's Peter Mathuki, who was only appointed as Secretary-General in February has a full plate. 

Nonetheless, Mathuki listed milestones the Secretariat achieved in line with the need to take integration to the people. They include, he said, a structured engagement with the private sector – especially holding consultative meetings with the business community in all Partner States to collect issues hampering the growth of the private sector in the region and identify solutions.

During a virtual meeting in July, the Secretariat and East African Business Council (EABC) launched the EAC-EABC Technical Working Group (TWG). The team will strengthen collaboration and partnership between the two institutions in order to improve the business environment.

Mathuki said: "We started a structured engagement with the private sector by creating a technical working group with the EAC and private sector associations in different partner states and this has worked well to resolve issues and see how to increase intra-EAC trade.”

There have also been improved relations amongst EAC organs and institutions. The Secretariat, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) leaders, Mathuki said, have forged a formula of working together "so that we try to improve and ensure we achieve the objectives of the Community.”

Regional Covid-19 response

The leaders met a time when another variant of Covid-19, the so-called, Omicron variant, said to carry a higher risk of infection, had just been discovered in South Africa and was causing infection rate spikes in their respective countries, across the continent, and the globe.

At the onset, Kenyatta noted that the leaders were challenged in this fifth wave of the disease, and need to work more closely and "align our health protocols.” 

He said: "I am glad to note that the resolve of the EAC Partner States to work together and put in place well aligned strategies to fight the pandemic, has been emboldened.”   

According to John Bosco Kalisa, CEO of the EABC, the main challenge has been an uncoordinated approach in addressing NTBs in addition to the varying procedures and measures to fight against Covid-19 pandemic.  

"The EAC private sector needs to be very proactive in raising their voices on emerging trade barriers and address competitive challenges,” Kalisa told The New Times.

Travel within the regional has been a big challenge for, especially, cross-border traders and other regional citizens due to multiple testing at varying costs. 

To address this challenge, Mathuki said, the EAC Secretariat developed an Application called the EACPass "to make it easier for citizens to travel because once you are tested from one partner state, that is able to be reflected in other partner states and you don’t have to keep on re-testing.”

This has been adopted by regional Health Ministers and will now be submitted to the Council of Ministers, the policy making organ of the Community, for consideration. Mathuki urged partner states to adopt a coordinated approach in tackling the pandemic "so that our economies can recover.”

Sustainable financing mechanism

Given the challenges associated with the current model of funding the EAC budget, Partner States have been working on a sustainable financing mechanism since 2008.

Without doubt, divergent views still need to be ironed out prior to developing a sustainable financing mechanism for EAC.

In November, regional Finance and Economy Ministers agreed to adopt a hybrid model in which 65% of the budget is contributed equally by all Partner States and 35% of the total budget is assessed based on Partner States’ average nominal GDP per capita for the previous five years.

But the Council of Ministers later decided that the new proposal needs some more consultations, and as such, the Secretariat is "waiting for the Council to deliberate on this and conclude.”

AfCFTA

To date, under the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, 42 (78%) countries have ratified the AfCFTA Agreement, including five Partner States – Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania.

Partner States collectively negotiated the AfCFTA as a bloc. 

The EAC submitted to the AfCFTA Secretariat its initial tariff offers which currently comprises 86.9% of tariff lines and is working towards meeting 90% threshold for products to be liberalized within a 10-year time frame.

The EAC also submitted a draft schedule of specific commitments on trade in services for liberalization in five priority services sectors – business, communication, finance, tourism and travel-related services, and transport.

The current focus of the AfCFTA negotiations is the finalization of the schedules of tariff concessions, outstanding issues on rules of origin, and the schedules of specific commitments on trade in services.