EAC and KfW Development Bank strengthen regional development with Euro 46 million partnership
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th February, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) continues to enhance strategic partnerships to bolster its capacity to drive sustainable development and tackle regional challenges. In this regard, the EAC and Germany's KfW Development Bank have signed four agreements valued at EUR 46 million to advance key regional infrastructure, improve healthcare systems, foster regional cooperation and mitigate the effects of climate change.
This collaboration further seeks to expand transport routes for enhanced connectivity and increase educational opportunities across the region.
KfW, in partnership with the European Union, is supporting the EAC’s Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) to promote sustainable and coordinated use of the Lake's resources. The comprehensive management of the Lake Vicrotia catchment area will ensure the availability of more and higher-quality water. Significant investments are also being made in wastewater treatment infrastructure, which will positively impact the overall quality of Lake’s water.
Two contracts, amounting to EUR 30 million, have been signed for the ‘Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Programme.’ These investments focus on expanding sewerage systems in Kampala (Uganda) and Mwanza (Tanzania), and constructing sanitary facilities and a sewerage system in Kisumu (Kenya), particularly for informal settlements.
In the health sector, KfW is also supporting the EAC’s efforts to combat infectious diseases. Through a collaboration with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, the laboratory network across seven EAC countries is being expanded, with additional training provided to laboratory personnel.
This initiative, funded with EUR 12 million, aims to enhance rapid diagnostics during disease outbreaks, including responses to Ebola, dengue, COVID-19, and more recently, the Marburg virus and Mpox.
The 'EAC Regional Laboratory Network' project, in its third phase, focuses on improving diagnostic capacities, including genomic surveillance, at both national and regional levels. Notably, the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is being established as a regional centre of excellence for the EAC, promoting greater collaboration between human and veterinary health sectors under the One Health Approach.
The EAC scholarship programme, similar to the European Erasmus programme, has been designed to support talented Master's students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds pursuing studies in STEM subjects or economics.
This initiative helps broaden students’ horizons and fosters greater social integration across the EAC countries. In its first phase, 180 students from eleven universities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda benefitted from the programme. The second phase, with an additional EUR 4 million funding, will extend the opportunity to students from Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, further enhancing regional mobility and academic collaboration.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka
Senior Public Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 768 552087
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of eight (8) Partner States, comprising the Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. The Federal Republic of Somalia was admitted into the EAC bloc by the Summit of EAC Heads of State on 24th November, 2023 and became a full member on 4th March, 2024