East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th June, 2023:East African Community Partner States resolved a total of 10 Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) as four (4) new ones emerged.
The 42nd Meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) that was held at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania was informed that eight (8) NTBs remained outstanding and were at different levels of resolution.
The Ministerial Session of the 42nd SCTIFI that was chaired by Burundi’s Minister of Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Hon. Marie Chantal Nijimbere, consequently directed Partner States to resolve all outstanding NTBs.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st, June, 2023: The 42nd Meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The five-day SCTIFI meeting started with the Session of Senior Officials on Monday, 29th May and ended on Wednesday, 31st May, 2023. The Coordination Committee or the Session of Permanent/Principal/Under Secretaries is slated for Friday, 2nd June, 2023 while the Cabinet Secretaries/Ministers’ session will be held on Saturday, 3rd June, 2023.
TUESDAY, 16th MAY, 2023: The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) and the East African Community Competition Authority (EACCA) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to ensure execution of their respective mandates enhances regional integration and cross-border trade and investment.
The MoU lays out modalities through which the agencies will mitigate competition infringements with cross-border effects, as well as foster transparency and predictability with regard to multijurisdictional merger notifications in order to reduce transaction costs for businesses.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th January2023: African countries have been asked to provide investment incentives to businesses operating in the agribusiness, green and blue economy in order to reduce the soaring costs of basic foodstuffs coupled with rising inflation in Africa.
African Governments have further been urged to facilitate access to capital and crowd-funding to support SMEs in Africa, through the use of Government Guarantee Funds (GGFs) and Privately Driven Guarantee Funds (PDGFs) including subsidizing agricultural production for key sectors such as cereals, vegetable, and palm oil to reduce the costs of production to enhance global competitiveness.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 18th December, 2022: East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been called upon to seek local solutions to the huge gap in financing facing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the region.
Uganda’s Minister of State for EAC Affairs, Hon. James Magode Ikuya, further urged the Partner States to address the twin issues of limited skills for production and poor standards and quality of products among others.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th December, 2022: The seven (7) East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been urged to hasten integration to create a bigger market for businesses in the region.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that East Africa’s small, disintegrated economies can do so little in terms of trade and investment, adding that Partner States need to integrate as a matter of survival to create bigger markets.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 24th October, 2022: The Republic of Burundi is on verge of setting up a National Competition Agency to encourage competition and enhance consumer welfare in the country.
Burundi’s Minister for Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Madame Marie Chantal Nijimbere, made the announcement when she met the Registrar of the East African Community Competition Authority (EACA), Ms. Lilian Mukoronia, in Bujumbura, Burundi.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 20th October, 2022: Preparations for the 22nd Edition of the East African Community (EAC) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Trade Fair, popularly known as the Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition, are in high gear.
The 22nd edition of the annual EAC Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition, which will be held under the theme “Buy East African to Build East Africa for Resilience and Sustainable Development,” is expected to attract more than 1,000 artisans from all the seven (7) EAC Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th June, 2022: African countries have been called upon to prioritise infrastructure development even as they advocate free intra-continental trade through African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) framework.
Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Hon. (Amb.) Liberata Mulamula said that interconnectivity across Africa was crucial if the continent was to exploit its vast potential for industrialisation, trade and investment.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th May 2022: East African Community (EAC) Ministers / Cabinet Secretary in charge of Trade and Finance have adopted 35 percent as the 4th Band of the EAC Common External Tariff (CET).
The Ministers, during a retreat on the comprehensive review of the CET, held on 5th May 2022, in Mombasa, Kenya, decided that implementation of the reviewed EAC CET shall commence on 1st July, 2022.
The meeting further agreed that there should be flexibility in implementation of the revised CET, particularly on products currently affected by the current global economic realities.
