Nairobi, 14th August 2024: The Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) today hosted the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Roundtable at the Nairobi Serena Hotel. This engagement between KEPSA and the EAC Secretariat is a pivotal mechanism for driving regional economic integration, improving the business climate, and ensuring that the private sector's voice is heard in the policymaking process.
It underscores the importance of collaboration between the public and private sectors in achieving a more integrated and prosperous East African region; ultimately, enhancing the ease of doing business and fostering Kenya’s competitiveness in the region and globally.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 12th July, 2023: African Union Members States have been called upon to adopt policies to encourage intra-African trade in food production by among other things removing Non-tariff Barriers (NTBs) that currently make imports from outside the continent costly compared to locally produced food.
AU Member States were further urged to invest in irrigation agriculture by moving away from the reliance on rain-fed agriculture.
African countries were called upon to adopt policies that motivate the youth to take part in agriculture to ensure increased production and reduce food insecurity.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 10th July, 2023: Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Community and Arid and Semi-arid Lands, Hon. Rebecca Miano, has underscored the importance of a vibrant private sector in promoting economic growth at the national, regional and continental levels in Africa.
Hon. Miano said that the Private Sector accounts for 80 per cent of Africa’s total production, two-thirds of investment and three-quarters of credit in addition to employing 90 per cent of the continent’s working-age population.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 10th July, 2023: The East African Community (EAC) has unveiled an online tool to measure the performance of the 22 One Stop Border Posts (OSBPs) across the region.
The EAC Secretary General in charge of Customs, Trade and Monetary Affairs, Ms. Annette Ssemuwumba, unveiled the One Stop Border Post Performance Measurement Tool on behalf of the EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, during the opening session of the 14th African Union High Level Private Sector Forum that is taking place in Nairobi, Kenya this week.
Ms. Ssemuwemba announced that the tool is now ready for use and that Partner States and stakeholders will embark on data collection, sensitisation on use and full roll out.
Nairobi, Kenya, 8th July, 2023: The African Union Commission in collaboration with the East African Community Secretariat will be organising the 14th African Union High Level Private Sector Forum at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya from 10th – 12th July, 2023.
The three-day forum themed “Public-Private Sector Engagement for Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development while Deepening Regional and Continental Trade and Investment towards Implementation of AfCFTA” is expected to draw more than 500 participants from Africa and beyond.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 03rd October, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) is setting up a Diaspora desk that will focus on facilitating East Africans living in the diaspora to invest and trade in the region.
EAC Secretary General Hon (Dr.) Peter Mathuki has revealed that the Secretariat is also currently developing a Diaspora Engagement Strategy, providing a framework for interacting with the diaspora community.
The Secretary General was speaking during the East Africa 17th Annual Trade and Investment Conference, organized by the East Africa Chamber of Commerce in Irving, Texas – USA. The meeting saw hundreds of East Africans residing across the USA and East African-focused investors, converge to explore areas of investment and deliberate on solutions to overcome investment and trade challenges.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 18th August, 2021: The East African Community Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, is urging the private sector to take advantage of the ongoing bilateral engagements between Partner States, to promptly resolve trade disputes so as to increase trade among EAC Partner States.
Hon. (Dr.) Mathuki further called upon the private sector to promptly harmonise their positions on trade agreements at the national level before engaging their counterparts in other Partner States to fast track trade deliberations.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 06th August, 2021: Kenyan private sector players have expressed optimism in making steps towards recovery of Covid-19, following a commitment by the East African Community Secretariat to prioritise strengthening public-private sector partnerships between the private sector in the region and EAC Partner States governments, to jointly invest in vaccine manufacturing in the region.
The EAC Secretary General, Hon. Dr. Peter Mathuki, said that there was need for a coordinated approach in handling COVID-19 in the region and emphasized on the need for local production of vaccines.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 26th July, 2021: The Secretary General of the EAC, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki has reaffirmed EAC’s commitment to make the private sector a top priority in driving the regional integration agenda.
Speaking during a meeting with the President of Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), Mr. Paul Koyi, and Chief Executive Officer of Safer Power Limited, Mr. Dalmus Mbai, who had paid a him courtesy call at his office in Arusha, Tanzania, the Secretary General pledged to work closely with the private sector in the region, adding that they were the key drivers of the integration process.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th July, 2021: The East African Community and the East African Business Council (EABC), the umbrella body bringing together private sector associations in East Africa, today launched the EAC-EABC Technical Working Group at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC-EABC Technical Working Group (TWG) that draws its membership from EAC and EABC is meant to spearhead initiatives that will benefit the private sector in East Africa. The EAC Director General for Customs and Trade, Mr. Kenneth Bagamuhunda, will chair the TWG.
