East African Community to Make Regional Trade Faster and Simpler

By Khalifa Hemed
Published January 5, 2019

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have agreed to make trade among them as East African Community (EAC) and other African countries faster and simpler.

“This is an opportunity for the East African Community (EAC) countries to sell their products within the region, in Africa and across the whole world,” said Frederick Ngobi Gume, Uganda’s Minister for Cooperatives, whose country is currently chair of the EAC. “It also gives us an opportunity to simplify the import and export of commodities. Such an approach reduces bureaucracy, with online clearances reducing contacts at the border. This initiative will go a long way to stimulate trade within the EAC and further afield.”’

The EAC move comes hot on the heels of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTFA) that was signed in March 2018 by 22 African countries. AfCFTA envisages establishing an Africa free trade area by building on regional economic communities (RECs) or blocs such as EAC.

East African Community brings together six countries. In the agreement signed in Nairobi in December 2018, the five EAC countries have committed themselves to supporting National Trade Facilitation Committees (NTFCs) as the main vehicle for coordinating the implementation of the trade facilitation measures at the national level.

Intra-EAC trade is said to be the highest among RECs in Africa, at 19.35% of exports, though it is still lower compared to that of RECs outside the continent.

“UNCTAD has supported the institutional architecture of trade facilitation in the East Africa region for many years,” Dr Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) who moderated the EAC discussions said. “We have helped launch trade portals which simplify trade procedures and reduce the time and cost of trade transactions in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.”