The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany announced additional funds of US$128 million (EUR 115.8 million) today which will be supporting health and education programmes in the East African Community.
The majority of the funds (US$105 million [EUR 95 million]) will be going towards the EAC’s immunization programme with Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. The EAC Secretary General, Amb. Libérat Mfumukeko, and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Federal Republic of Germany, Jörg Herrera, jointly signed the Agreement in Arusha today.
East African Legislative Assembly, Arusha, December 5th 2019: A new Bill that will see access to essential medicines and promotion of the local pharmaceutical industry is set to be introduced. The Assembly has this afternoon granted EALA Member, Hon Francine Rutazana, leave to introduce the Bill entitled the East African Community Pharmaceuticals Bill, 2019.
The Bill shall among other things, aims to promote and boost medicines and pharmaceuticals produced in the EAC region, regulate good manufacturing practices and quality standards and ensure the mutual recognition of registration of medicines.
East African Legislative Assembly, Arusha, December 5th 2019: As the region puts out all its arsenal and explores modalities of containing the Ebola and Dengue viruses, the East African Legislative Assembly has stepped up to adopt the Report of the Committee on General Purpose on the oversight activity assessing levels of preparedness of Partner States in management of the epidemics.
The House in its debate has reiterated need for the Council of Ministers to develop an EAC Policy on the management of communicable diseases in the region and to strengthen collaborative engagement with key stakeholders. In effect, the Assembly wants further collaboration with stakeholders such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the German Technical Co-operation (GiZ) to enhance oversight in the promotion of the health sector in the region.
East African Legislative Assembly, Arusha, December 5th 2019: The East African Legislative Assembly is moving to expedite the development of the EAC Climate Change Bill in order to introduce it in the House for debate. As the rains continue pounding and causing havoc in many parts of the region, the Council of Ministers is been urged to urgently establish an emergency response fund to assist victims of floods and other environmental funds.
A resolution moved by Hon Kim Gai Ruot captures the essence of the dangers currently faced in the region saying there are inadequate resources and capacities set aside to effectively prevent disasters both at country level and sub-regionally. The Motion also underscores the need for education and public awareness as essentials that are supportive of community participation and vital in disaster preparedness and management.
…His Excellency Paul Kagame expected to grace the opening
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 3rd December, 2019: The 20th Edition of the annual East African Community Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSES) Trade Fair, formerly known as JuaKali Nguvu Kazi Exhibition is set for 13th to 22nd December, 2019 at Gikondo Expo Grounds in Kigali, Rwanda.
The 20th Edition Trade Fair themed; EAC@20: Building EAC through Micro and Small Enterprises jointly organized on a rotational basis by the EAC Secretariat, the East African Confederation of Informal Sector Organisation (EACISO) in collaboration with EAC Partner States, brings together artisans from the six (6) EAC Partner States comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3th December, 2019: The East African Community Secretary-General, Amb, Liberat Mfumukeko yesterday received credentials from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Finland to the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E Riitta SWAN, to also serve as Ambassador to the East African Community.
Speaking at the function, Amb. SWAN said that her appointment was out of her government’s commitment to deepen its cooperation with the EAC, noting the significance of regional integration not only for East Africans, but as an important source of growth for the continent as well.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th November, 2019: The East African Community today marked its 20th Anniversary with pomp and fanfare at its Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
Uganda’s 2nd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Hon. Dr. Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, who presided over the event, said that EAC Partner States would not repeat the mistake of the past that led to the collapse of the first Community.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st December, 2019: The 39th Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers has approved the Final Draft Cotton, Textiles and Apparels (CTA) Strategy and its Implementation Roadmap.
The strategy whose vision is to have “An integrated and globally competitive cotton, textiles and apparels industry,” makes a critical analysis of the CTA sector along the following key levels of the value chain: Cotton Seed (Production); Seed Cotton (Ginning); Cotton lint (Spinning); Yarn (Weaving/Knitting/Printing/Dyeing/Finishing), and; Fabrics (Garments/Apparels/Fabrication/Manufacturing) level.
The 39th Council which was chaired by Rwanda’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and East African Community Affairs, Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe, was attended by line Ministers from all the EAC Partner States and EAC Executives.
The Council further approved the Final Draft Leather and Leather Products Sector Strategy and its Implementation Roadmap.
The Council which met at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, further directed EAC Partner States to give priority to the implementation of the (CTA) and the Leather Products Sector Strategy.
In an effort to promote the textiles and apparels sector in East Africa, the Ministers directed Partner States to encourage sustainable procurement of all institutional uniforms, beddings, draperies by state institutions from textiles and fabric industries the region.
The Council directed the Sectoral Council on Agriculture and Food Security to develop a strategy to boost the production of cotton in the region.
In their deliberations, the Ministers observed that the seed cotton sector was constrained by low and declining production, low productivity, low quality and fluctuating farm gate prices. Textile mills were further constrained by outdated technology; low spinning capacity, availability of cotton lint, high cost of energy and low skill levels.
The Ministers were informed that inadequate supply of cotton lint forces millers to either buy or hold stock covering a one-year production cycle, or to shut down their production during off-seasons when they lack funds for bulk purchases.
The apparels sector on the other hand suffers mainly from low skills, low local market penetration by local producers and unfavourable trade practices particularly contraband and used clothes.
The EAC Strategy and Implementation Roadmap for Leather, Leather Products and Footwear Sector is a response to directive by the 19th Summit of EAC Heads of State held in 2018 concerning the promotion of the cotton, textile, apparel and leather industries in the region, with a view to making the region more competitive and creating jobs.
The Summit further directed the Council to implement the directive and put in place a mechanism that supports textile and leather manufacturing in EAC.
The strategy whose vision is to have “An integrated and globally competitive leather and leather products industry” makes a critical analysis of the sector along all other levels of leather and leather products value chain.
The Council referred the request for admission to the EAC from the Democratic Republic of Congo to the 21st Summit of the EAC Heads of State for consideration.
The Session had been informed that Chairperson of the Council had written to the EAC Secretariat on the request of the Democratic Republic of Congo to join the Community. The Council noted that Article 3 of the Treaty provides the matters to be taken into account by Partner States in considering the application by a foreign country to become a member of the Community.
On investment promotion within the region, the Council approved the Draft EAC Export Promotion Strategy 2020 – 2025 for implementation.
The EPS 2020-2025 contains the following strategic interventions: Stimulate exports through acquired market intelligence for enterprises and improved visibility on international markets; Improve market access and conditions for EAC Export; Strengthen export competitiveness through interventions like improved access to finance and technology for enterprises, in particular SMEs, and; Strengthen the trade support institutions and partnerships.
The Council was informed that 60 students from five Partner States had been awarded fully paid postgraduate scholarships under KFW scholarship programme tenable at various institutions of higher learning within the EAC from September this year.
The scholarship programme, an initiative of a Tripartite Financing Agreement between the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany (KFW), the EAC and Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) for a non-repayable grant of 5 million Euros, was signed in April 2018, with IUCEA being selected as the Project Executing Agency (PEA).
The programme’s objective is to enable poor and disadvantaged but academically gifted students pursue graduate studies in the EAC (so-called Change Agents) to foster regional integration. The scholarship programme supports postgraduate students in Mathematics, Engineering, Informatics, Science, Technology and Business Science programmes.
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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: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 28th November, 2019: After a one-year-long work of platform construction and information upload, the new continental women's platform was launched on November 26, during the Global Gender Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.
The platform is intended to connect 50 million African women in business across 38 African countries.
The portal (www.womenconnect.org) and mobile application (50MAWSP) come to solve the information issue that African women in business face when it comes to accessing available information on financial and non-financial services.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27th November, 2019: The EU Ambassador to Tanzania and the East African Community, H.E. Manfredo Fanti, and the EAC Secretary-General, H.E. Libérat Mfumukeko, today launched a new 10 million Euros (approx. TShs25.38 billion) joint programme to address regional and cross border security threats in the region.
The programme is a regional response to the various and growing security threats across the EAC region. It will work both on enhancing the technical capacities and building trust between the law enforcement agencies in the EAC Partner States. Without mutual trust, data and information will not be shared. The shared aim is to intercept those engaged in transnational organised crime.
