25TH ORDINARY MEETING OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY MONETARY AFFAIRS COMMITTEE VIRTUAL MEETING, 4TH MARCH 2022
COMMUNIQUÉ
The 25th ordinary meeting of the East African Community (EAC) Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) was held virtually on 4th March,2022. The meeting was chaired by Dr. Patrick Njoroge, Governor of the Central Bank of Kenya, and current chairperson of MAC.
Present were:
Moses Makur Deng, Governor of the Bank of South Sudan;
Audace Niyonzima, Deputy Governor of the Bank of the Republic of Burundi;
Soraya M. Hakuziyaremye, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda;
Michael Atingi-Ego, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Uganda; and
Yamungu Kayandabila, Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania.
The meeting was held against a backdrop of rising global inflation, tightening financial conditions, and worsening debt vulnerabilities for developing economies owing to the protracted COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical tensions. To manage these developments, most EAC Partner States Central Banks continued with accommodative policy stance complemented by regulatory changes including relaxation of rules on loan classification/restructuring, extended lending facilities, exceptional liquidity assistance, and reduced charges on mobile transactions to support financial intermediation and digitalization. The Committee also took note of the increasing financial innovations.
….as Retreat of Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs concluded in Mombasa, Kenya
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th November, 2021: The East African Community Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) has agreed on a Hybrid Model of financing the EAC budget.
A two-day retreat of the SCFEA held in Mombasa, Kenya from 15th to 16th November, 2021 further recommended to the EAC Council of Ministers, the policy making Organ of the Community, to approve the model as the new financing mechanism for the EAC.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 26th February, 2021:The East African Community Council of Ministers has designated 1st July, 2021 as the date for the coming into being of the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI), the precursor to the East African Central Bank.
The operationalization of the EAMI effectively sets the EAC on a journey towards the single currency by 2024 as envisaged in the East African Monetary Union Protocol.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 30th April, 2019: The 10th meeting of the East African Community (EAC) Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The five-day meeting, which started yesterday 29th April, 2019, is being attended by Finance and Economic Affairs experts from the EAC Partner States.
The SCFEA is, among others, considering the status of implementation of previous directives, reports of the Capital Market, Insurance and Pensions Committee, Committee on Fiscal Affairs and the report of the Task Force on development of East African Monetary Union (EAMU) institutions.
The SCFEA meeting kicked off with the Session of Senior Officials, which will run up to 1st May, 2019. This will be followed by the Coordination Committee, which consists of the Permanent/Principal Secretaries on 2nd May, 2019, and the Ministerial Session on 3rd May, 2019.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th April, 2018:
The 8th meeting of the Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCFEA) is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The five-day meeting, which will run from today 30th April to 4th May, 2018, is being attended by Finance and Economic Affairs experts from the EAC Partner States.
The SCFEA will, among others, consider the reports of the Sectoral Committee on Statistics, Monetary Affairs Committee, Capital Markets, Insurance and Pensions Committee, Committee on Fiscal Affairs, and Task Force on development of the East African Monetary Union institutions.
The SCFEA meeting kicked off with the Session of Senior Officials, which will run up to 2nd May, 2018. This will be followed by the Coordination Committee, which consists of the Permanent/Principal Secretaries on 3rd May, 2018, and the Ministerial Session on 4th May, 2018.
Meanwhile, the 28th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Cooperation in Defence is also on-going at the EAC headquarters in Arusha. The purpose of the Meeting is to consider several reports including status of Implementation of Previous Decisions of the Sectoral Council.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 24 March 2017: The World Bank has hailed the East African Community for the steady progress it has made towards the creation of the Common Market.
Mr. Ahmadou Moustapha Ndiaye, the World Bank’s Coordinating Director on EAC integration noted in particular the operationalization of the Single Customs Territory by the EAC Partner States, adding that the region had experienced increased intra-regional trade.
Mr. Ndiaye further praised the EAC Secretariat for the efforts it is undertaking to monitor the implementation of the Common Market Protocol with the aim of lifting all the remaining barriers to free movement of people, labour, goods, services and capital.
Mr. Ndiaye said that there had been excellent collaboration between the EAC and the World Bank, noting that the Community had been very active in recent years in engaging the bank and developing a programme of collaboration to support the implementation of its ambitious regional integration agenda.
“The EAC leadership reached out to the Partner States and convinced Ministers of Finance to approach the Bank and request its technical and financial support to the implementation of programmes sponsored by the EAC Secretariat and other EAC regional institutions such as the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme, among others,” said the Bank official.
He said that this active engagement with the World Bank led to the development of a strong active support programme worth US$2.97 billion which represents 33% of total International Development Association (IDA) regional lending in Sub-Saharan Africa as of today.
He observed that among the portfolio of projects funded by IDA were those that support EAC institutional and capacity development, adding that the implementation was progressing well.
“These include financial sector integration, capacity development in financial management of the Secretariat and EAC institutions, statistical capacity development for the Regional Bureau of Statistics and medicine regulatory harmonization,” said the Bank official.
He, however, disclosed that only 19% of the agreed amount had been disbursed as of now.
“The EAC Secretariat and member states need to take strong actions to accelerate the pace of implementation and deliver concrete results to the people of the region, in particular by speeding up the implementation of infrastructure projects,” said Mr. Ndiaye.
Mr. Ndiaye was speaking during a meeting with EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The meeting was called to discuss the way forward on EAC Financial Sector Development and Regionalization Project (FSDRP).
The Secretariat, on its part, led by Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko urged the Bank to support various priority areas including: the harmonisation of commercial laws across the EAC region; creation of an e-business register; issues of connectivity especially interlinking of banks; harmonisation of public financial management to similar standards across all the Partner States, and; harmonisation of statistics in the region to promote banking inter-operability.
The Secretariat was of the view that an e-business registry would help integrate trade across East Africa in addition to being critical for the success of the East African Monetary Union. The Monetary Union will only be achieved if there is full financial integration.
The e-business register would also facilitate the establishment of a fully single market for trade within East Africa.
On issues of connectivity, the Secretariat noted that it had in place plans to increase investment in roads, dry ports and inter-modal transport on Lakes Tanganyika and Victoria with additional focus on the navigability of waterways.
The EAC Secretariat asked the Bank to support the harmonisation of statistics in the region by providing Partner States’ statistical bureaus with money and equipment.
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Notes to Editor:
Since its inception in June 2011 with a US$16 million IDA grant by the World Bank and other development partners, FSDRP has registered remarkable progress in six (6) major components, namely:
Financial inclusion and strengthening market participants;
Harmonization of financial laws and regulations against common standards;
Mutual recognition of supervisory agencies;
Integration of financial market infrastructures;
Development of regional bond market, and;
Capacity building
In response to the successes of the project, the EAC Secretariat successfully negotiated addition funding to the tune of US$10.5 million to be implemented over a three-year period from 2016 to 2019. The Secretariat and the Bank signed the agreement for additional funding in December 2016.
The activities supported by this additional financing will be consistent with the project development objective of FSDRP I which was to establish the foundation for financial sector integration among EAC Partner States. The additional funding will also scale up the scope of existing activities in order to deepen the development effectiveness of the project and build on the momentum attained by focusing on the policy areas that have seen the most progress so far.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community EAC Close Afrika Mashariki Road P.O. Box 1096 Arusha United Republic of Tanzania
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
