EAC 25th Anniversary

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 ABOUT THE EAC 25^TH ANNIVERSARY

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC) was signed on 30^th November 1999 in Arusha, Tanzania, and came into force on 7^th July 2000, following its ratification by the three original Partner States: the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Since then, the EAC Partner States have commemorated the 30^th of November each year as EAC Day. Additionally, the East African Legislative Assembly passed the East African Community Holidays Bill in 2013, officially recognizing 30th November as EAC Day in the Partner States.

The EAC marked its 10^th Anniversary in November 2009 and its 20^th Anniversary in November 2019. On 30^th November 2024, we will celebrate the 25^th Anniversary of the establishment of the EAC, which has grown from three Partner States in 1999 to eight in 2024. The bloc expanded with the inclusion of the Republic of Burundi and the Republic of Rwanda (2007), the Republic of South Sudan (2016), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (2022), and the Federal Republic of Somalia (2024).

The theme for the EAC’s 25th Anniversary commemoration is: EAC@25: Promoting Trade, Sustainable Development, and Peace and Security for Improved Livelihoods.

The 25^th Anniversary provides a perfect opportunity to reflect on the EAC's achievements, highlight challenges and chart the way forward for the integration process in East Africa.

 

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TIMELINE OF EAC REGIONAL INTEGRATION

• 1897 - 1901
• 1900 - 1917
• 1905 - 1940
• 1946
• 1948 - 1961
• 1961
• 1967
• 1977
• 1999
• 2005
• 2007
• 2010
• 2013
• 2016
• 2017
• 2022
• 2023
• 2024

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  Railway lines across Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika open up the region for colonial development under the management of the East African Railways Cooperation.
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  Customs for goods destined for Uganda are collected at Mombasa port, and a full Customs Union comprising Kenya, Uganda and, later, Tanganyika is established in 1917.
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  The East African Currency Board, the Postal Union, the Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa, the East African Governors’ Conference, the East African Income Tax Board and the Joint Economic Council are established.
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  The East African Airways Corporation is incorporated. It covered not only the East African region, but operated across Africa, connecting also to Europe and India.
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  The East African High Commission (EACH) is the coordinating body to deal with a customs union, a common external tariff, currency and post- age; and also with common services in transport and communications, research and education.
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  Following independence, the East African High Commission is replaced by the East African Common Services Organisation (EACSO), which many observers thought would lead to a political federation between the three territories. However, the new organisation suffered from a lack of joint planning and fiscal policy, separate political policies and Kenya’s dominant economic position.
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  Signing of the ‘Treaty for East African Cooperation’ among Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
• Dissolution of the first East African Community.
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  The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community was signed by the three Presidents of the Republic of Kenya, Republic of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania on 30th November, 1999. 30th November is recognized as EAC Day across the region.
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  The Protocol for the establishment of the EAC Customs Union was signed on 1st July, 2005.
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  The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi were admitted and became full members of EAC on 1st July, 2007.
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  The EAC Common Market Protocol entered into force on 1st July, 2010, an expansion of the bloc’s existing Customs Union.
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  The East African Monetary Union (EAMU) is the third milestone of the EAC integration process. The EAMU Protocol was signed on 30th November, 2013 and set the groundwork for a monetary union within 10 years while allowing the EAC Partner States to progressively converge their currencies into a single currency in the Community.
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  The Republic of South Sudan was admitted and became a full member of EAC on 5th September, 2016.
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  On 20th May, 2017, the EAC Heads of State adopted the Political Confederation as a transitional model of the East African Political Federation.
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  The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), is admited to the EAC and becomes a full member on 11 July, 2022.
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  The Federal Republic of Somalia is admited to the EAC and aceedes to the EAC Treaty on 15 December, 2023.
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  The Federal Republic of Somalia deposits her Instrument of Ratification of the EAC Treaty and becomes a full member of the Community on 4 March, 2024

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EAC 25^thAnniversary Activities

EAC Boma Road Festival

The EAC's 25th Anniversary Road Festival aims to celebrate regional integration and unity through cultural displays, performances, parades, and a fireworks finale.

High-Level Side Event

The EAC High-Level Side Event celebrates 25 years of regional integration, showcasing milestones and reaffirming commitment to unity and development across East Africa.

24th Ordinary Summit

The 24th Summit of the EAC Heads of State underscores a renewed commitment to advancing regional cooperation, economic integration, and sustainable development for East Africa’s prosperity.

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EAC Integration Milestones

Over the past 25 years, the East African Community has achieved remarkable milestones that have strengthened regional integration and fostered socio-economic growth across the Partner States.

Customs union

The Customs Union has over this period been transformed into a Single Customs Territory with the Common External Tariff being raised to 35% as part of efforts to promote the growth of local industries and in the same breath increase the region’s share of international trade.

Intra-regional trade within the East African Community (EAC) is on an upward trajectory, standing at US$10.17 billion in September 2022. The intra-EAC trade, accounting for imports and exports in the seven (7) EAC Partner States, grew from 13% in 2019 at a value of US$7.1 billion to 15 % in 2021 at a value of US$9.5 billion. By September 2022, the EAC trade value was recorded at US$10.17 billion representing a 20% share of Intra-trade to global trade.

This increase in intra-regional trade is due to the political goodwill among the members of the Summit who have held high-level discussions on a regular basis to eliminate many Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) hampering cross-border trade in East Africa.

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Common Market

Over the years, we have seen the EAC Common Market stretch from the Indian to the Atlantic Ocean and increased opportunities for the private sector, the engine of economic growth in the bloc.

The East African Community (EAC) Common Market, launched in 2010, has been instrumental in deepening regional integration, facilitating trade, and driving economic development across the East African region. By promoting the free movement of goods, services, people, and capital, the EAC Common Market aims to create a single regional economic space where the economies of the member states can grow in a more integrated, efficient, and inclusive manner.

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Monetary Union

On the East African Monetary Union (EAMU), the region is edging closer to the establishment of a single currency that will ease intra-regional trade and transactions across East Africa.

The East African Monetary Institute is already in place with three (3) more institutions as envisaged in the EAMU Protocol also at advanced stages of establishment. This will ensure that we have the single currency in place by the year 2031.

A single currency will facilitate seamless trade across national borders and boost trade volumes with the benefits trickling down to the ordinary people as has happened in more advanced regional economic communities.

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Political Federation

Under the Political Federation, the bloc has also made steady progress with the Committee of Experts tasked with drafting the Constitution for the EAC Political Federation having so far concluded consultations with stakeholders in the Republics of Burundi, Uganda and Kenya.

We look forward to expediting these consultations with the remaining Partner States by 30th June, 2025 as desired by the Summit.

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EAC SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS GALLERY

 

 

 

  Welcome Message

H.E Veronica Nduva, CBS
Secretary General, EAC

  HIGHLIGHTS

  EVENTS

  PRESS RELEASES

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JAMAFEST 2022

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 ABOUT THE FESTIVAL

Jamafest is an acronym for Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival, the Kiswahili rendering for the EAC Arts and Culture Festival which aims to promote regional socio-cultural integration through arts and culture by providing a platform to showcase culture as a primary driver of regional integration.

Jamafest came to life after the EAC Council of Ministers in September 2011 directed the EAC Secretariat to organize regular festivals of the kind, and Rwanda was consequently selected to host the first edition of the Festival in 2013, with Kenya hosting the 2015 edition, Uganda the 2017 edition and Tanzania the 2019 edition. It is envisaged the festival will be held biennially and hosted by Partner States rotationally.

The 2022 edition of the Festival is themed “Harnessing the cultural resources to mitigate the impacts of COVID 19 in the EAC”.

The Festival will featured a carnival, art exhibitions, a symposium, live performances, films, literary works, a fashion show and tradition games...

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EAC PARTNER STATE PROFILES

• Burundi
• Congo (DRC)
• Kenya
• Rwanda
• South Sudan
• Uganda
• Tanzania

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  The Republic of Burundi (Kirundi: Republika y’Uburundi; Français: République du Burundi), is a landlocked contry, located in the African Great Lakes region of East Africa, bordered by the Republic of Rwanda to the North, the United Repuvblic of Tanzania to the East and South, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the West. It is also sometimes considered as part of the Central Africa.

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  The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is located in central sub-Saharan Africa, bordered to the northwest by the Republic of the Congo, to the north by the Central African Republic, to the northeast by South Sudan, to the east by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and by Tanzania (across Lake Tanganyika), to the south and southeast by Zambia, to the southwest by Angola, and to the west by the South Atlantic Ocean and the Cabinda Province exclave of Angola.

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  Kenya is a country in East Africa with coastline on the Indian Ocean. It encompasses savannah, lake lands, the dramatic Great Rift Valley, mountain highlands and abundant wildlife such as lions, elephants and rhinos. From Nairobi, the capital, safaris visit the Masaai Mara reserve, known for its annual wildebeest migrations, and Amboseli National Park, offering views of Tanzania’s 5,895m Mt Kilimanjaro.

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  Rwanda, known as the land of a thousand hills, its stunning scenery and warm, friendly people offer unique experiences in one of the most remarkable countries in the world. It is blessed with extraordinary biodiversity, with incredible wildlife living throughout its volcanoes, montane rainforest and sweeping plains.

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  South Sudan is bordered by Sudan to the north, Ethiopia to the east, Kenya to the southeast, Uganda to the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the southwest, and the Central African Republic to the west. It includes the vast swamp region of the Sudd, formed by the White Nile and known locally as the Bahr al Jabal.

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  Uganda is a landlocked country in East Africa whose diverse landscape encompasses the snow-capped Rwenzori Mountains and immense Lake Victoria. Its abundant wildlife includes endangered gorillas and chimpanzees as well as rare birds. Remote Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is a famous mountain gorilla sanctuary, while Murchison Falls National Park in the northwest is known for its 43m-tall waterfall and wildlife such as hippos.

  Read More >

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  Tanzania is an East African country known for its vast wilderness areas. They include the plains of Serengeti National Park, a safari mecca populated by the “big five” game (elephant, lion, leopard, buffalo, rhino), and Kilimanjaro National Park, home to Africa’s highest mountain. Offshore lie the tropical islands of Zanzibar and Mafia Marine Park, where whale sharks swim through reefs.

  Read More >

 

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JAMAFEST 2022 Activities

JAMAFEST Carnival

The Jamafest carnival will entail a procession around Bujumbura. It will precede the official opening ceremony.

Opening & Closing Ceremonies

These two events will entail the signaling of the start as well as the close of the Festival by the Guest of Honour.

JAMAFEST Village

The JAMAFEST Village will be located at Intwari Stadium, which will host various cultural exhibitions by EAC Partner States.
Village Site Map

Arts Exhibition

An elaborate ‘East African’ art gallery is planned, where painters and photographers will simultaneously display their work.

Workshops

Different workshops will be run by professional and experienced local and visiting artists.

Live Performances

The various participants will have a chance to showcase their work which will be open to the public.

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Symposium Thematic Areas

The JAMAFEST 2022 Symposium will provide a forum for academicians, cultural practitioners, policymakers, and cultural managers to interact, interrogate and discuss various thematic issues and challenges related to the preservation and promotion of arts and cultural industries in the region/globally.

Role of modern technologies in advancing cultural expression and arts

• Today, it is indisputable that technology has a significant influence on our culture, business, and entire worldview. People can use social media to discuss ideas, connect with, relate to, and mobilize for a cause, seek counsel, and offer assistance.

• Social media has broken down communication barriers and developed decentralized communication channels, allowing everyone, including individuals in repressive nations, to have a voice and engage democratically.

Adopting new regional languages in the EAC

• The expression of culture is inextricably linked to language. It serves a crucial social purpose by fostering emotions of group identity and solidarity by transmitting values, beliefs, and practices. It is a method for transmitting and preserving culture, customs, and shared values.

• Maintaining the languages of distinct ethnic and cultural groups is crucial for the preservation of cultural legacy and identity in multilingual communities. Language loss implies a loss of culture and identity. The suppression of minority languages has been utilized as a deliberate policy in numerous civilizations throughout history in order to suppress minority cultures.

Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Medicine

Human contact with their environment has resulted in the development of indigenous/traditional knowledge. Traditional knowledge on human and animal health exists in every African country. Every location has had a kind of traditional medicine at some point in its history. Even at the level of ethno-pathogenic beliefs of diseases and therapeutic action, each African culture has its own unique approach to health and disease.

Arts, Industry and Tourism

Tourism contributes to the preservation and conservation of cultural heritage, restores cultural pride, revitalizes customs and traditions, and allows for cultural sharing and learning. Increased cross-cultural interaction; understanding, maintaining, and keeping local culture, arts, crafts, and traditions; empowering host communities; and promoting cultural values are some of the cultural effects of tourism

Youth Participation and Employment

The shifting nature of the link between African youth and their sense of identity is arguably nowhere more obvious than in the globalization of culture. The only sure-fire strategy to promote the youth is to harness their creativity as one of the primary strategies to make our content prosperous and competitive. Talent identification programs can help turn their passion into business. If the African countries come together, African youth in the creative industry can overcome unemployment and poverty and become self-sufficient and job creators.

Research, Innovation and Investment in Arts and Culture

Creativity and the creative industries have gotten a lot of attention recently, whether from the government or the private sector; from business owners to creators, the creative industry is a hot topic. We must modify the status quo of the industry and boost our own industrial value because of economic transformation and upgrading. The two engines of technological innovation and cultural creativity are the main sources of value enhancement in the creative business.

Inclusion of marginalized populations

• Sustainable development is aided by creating an inclusive society that empowers marginalized groups and individuals.

• Marginalized people are typically left out of decision-making, government institutions, fundamental services, and even citizenship. Women are the custodians, creators, and consumers of culture in any community yet they continue to encounter restrictions that prohibit them from participating equally in the cultural arena. More needs to be done to fill the data gap in order to support gender-sensitive cultural policy. Cultural participation, surveys for example, can track activities like reading at home or visiting to the theater, as well as reveal the constraints that women experience when it comes to consuming or creating cultural assets.

• It is required to modify the meanings and values associated with undesirable qualities, as well as the culture in which they are rooted, including unequal power relations, in order to achieve social inclusion. This is a multi-faceted undertaking that must be carried out at all levels of society. It is critical that the people who have been implicated in this process are involved and, in a position, to define the meaning and values of their own features, markers, and social identities.

JAMAFEST 2022 HIGHLIGHTS

 

 

 

  Welcome Message

H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye
President of the Republic of Burundi

  REPLAY OPENING CEREMONY

  PRESS RELEASES

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  5th edition of EAC Cultural Festival ends on a high note in Bujumbura, Burundi

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  President Ndayishimiye graces Official Opening Ceremony of 5th EAC Arts and Culture Festival - JAMAFEST in Bujumbura

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  All set for 5th edition of the EAC Arts and Culture Festival (JAMAFEST 2022) in Bujumbura, Burundi

  FESTIVAL PHOTO GALLERY

  PLANNED ACTIVITIES

Carnival
Cultural Performances
Art Exhibitions
Cultural Market Place
Symposium
Children theatre and games
Film Exhibition
Traditional Sports and Games
Food Market and Exhibition
Cultural Excursion and Awards
Fashion Show and Modeling

 

  CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

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Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for EAC and Northern Corridor Development Hon. Peter Munya graces EAC High Level Retreat on Mediation, Negotiation and Dialogue in Mombasa, Kenya

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East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th June 2018: Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of East African Community and Northern Corridor Development, Hon. Peter G. Munya, has said that Mediation, Negotiation and Dialogue remain the most prominent of the tools that exist in the international architecture for resolving conflicts and disputes.

He said in Africa, mediation, negotiation and dialogue processes had been used in several instances with degrees of success, citing several case studies including the Arusha Peace and Reconciliation Agreement for Burundi of August 2000; end of apartheid rule in 1992 in South Africa which was a result of negotiations and dialogue; the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement in South Sudan; the 2008 Global Political Agreement of Zimbabwe, and the peace agreement reached after the disputed elections in Kenya in 2007.

Hon. Peter G. Munya said this on Tuesday 12th June when officiating and giving a keynote address at the four-day High Level Retreat themed Reflections on Experiences, Best Practices and Lessons Learned in Mediation, Negotiation and Dialogue Processes in Mombasa, Kenya.

The Cabinet Secretary noted that the theme of the Retreat was a powerful indicator that though EAC may encounter conflicts and disputes in the pursuit of the integration agenda, the Community had chosen the path of mediation, negotiation and dialogue to resolve such differences.

“The High Level Retreat speaks to the priorities of the African continent, which include a call to action to strengthen peace and security architecture. Through this Retreat, EAC, together with other key stakeholders will encourage a culture of reflective practice on mediation, negotiation and dialogue processes,” asserted Hon. Munya.

The Guest of honour observed that the adoption of the Constitutive Act of the African Union in 2002 was important in shifting from the norm of non-intervention of OAU to that of non-indifference. “Indeed, Africa became very decisive and proactive in placing its role on the global peace and security agenda and this has contributed to the continent being increasingly recognized as an active player and a key partner in maintaining global peace and security”, affirmed the Cabinet Secretary.

At the same occasion, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Mr Charles Njoroge informed the delegates that the Retreat was part of a series of capacity-building initiatives undertaken by the EAC Secretariat to strengthen its role in preventive diplomacy and mediation roles through its Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR) Mechanism.

He disclosed that a number of measures had been put in place over the past ten years in the region to define a framework for durable Peace and Stability and these include conclusion of a Protocol on Peace and Security, a Protocol on Cooperation in Defence, a Protocol on Foreign Policy Coordination, a Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution Mechanism; which provides for Early Warning, Preventive Diplomacy, Peace Support Operations and a Peace Fund to support all these initiatives.

The EAC Official commended the European Union (EU) and the African Union (AU) for their support and ECOWAS, COMESA, IGAD, SADC for allowing the EAC to learn best practices from them.

The Deputy Secretary General also disclosed that the EAC was currently in the process of negotiating two key enablers to the stability of the region i.e. the EAC Mutual Defence Pact and a Rapid Peace and Security Decision Making Mechanism and noted that the conclusion of these two will place the EAC Region in a pedestal to contribute in a timely and effective manner to responding to Peace and Security challenges the region may be exposed to.

Her Excellency Dr. Specioza Wandira, Former Vice President of the Republic of Uganda and Member of the AU Panel of the Wise; the Right Hon. Justice Joseph Sinde Warioba, Former Prime Minister and Former Chief Justice of the United Republic of Tanzania; Representatives from the African Union and Regional Economic Communities; Members of the EAC Mediation Standing Group
Resource; 
Religious Leaders; Peace and Security Academicians; Political and Senior officials from the Partner States and the EAC Secretariat are attending the Retreat.

Procurement

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Procurement plays an essential role in enabling the EAC carry out its mandate within the realm of good governance and accountability, borrowing its activities from procurement best practices around the world to establish the most appropriate policies and procedures that meet EAC needs.
This section has been designed to provide useful information to prospective and registered suppliers and contractors on the process followed by the EAC when sourcing for goods, services and works.
The EAC Procurement Unit is responsible for coordinating and overseeing the sourcing, selection, and contract execution for 3 EAC Organs - EALA, EACJ and Secretariat.