East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 08th March, 2022:The EAC Secretariat is among three institutions in Africa to be recognized by the African Union Commission (AUC) for excellence in project preparation especially feasibility studies and designs.
The EAC received the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) Quality Label (PQL) Award during the 7th PIDA Week that was held in Nairobi, Kenya from 28th February to 2nd March, 2022.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th March, 2022; The Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Hon. (Dr) Peter Mathuki said women constitute more than 50 percent of the population of the EAC and therefore hold the key to the region’s economic success.
Dr. Mathuki made a statement earlier today during the opening session of an Annual Women’s Conference organized by EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Tengeru Institute of Community Development as part of the 2022 International Women’s Day celebrations.
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.
Kampala, Uganda, 3rd March, 2022: The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) is pleased to announce that 63 scholarships have been awarded to applicants from all the six (6) East African Community Partner States (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda).
The call for the 3rd cohort attracted more than 1,450 applicants who went through a rigorous selection process involving pre-admission into the university and scholarship assessment. The eligibility to the scholarship included being a citizen of an EAC Partner State, being below thirty-five and a holder of a relevant bachelor’s degree at the level of at least upper second-class Honours or “distinction”.
East African Court of Justice, 3rd March, 2022: The East African Court of Justice First Instance Division has adjourned the hearing of Application No. 29 of 2020 seeking a temporary injunction restraining the Governments of Uganda and Tanzania from constructing the Crude Oil Pipeline pending determination of the main case.
The main case (Reference No. 39 of 2020 Center for Food and Adequate Living Rights & 3 Others vs The AG Uganda, Tanzania and Secretary General EAC, challenges a decision to construct an East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in the Republic of Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 28th February, 2022: EAC Secretary General Dr. Peter Mathuki is urging African leaders to urgently implement the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agreement, in order to lower the costs of air transport in Africa and in turn boost development.
Speaking in Nairobi, Kenya, at the 7th Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) week, Dr. Mathuki stated that air cargo currently accounts for only 2% of the global air cargo adding that air transport remains out of reach for both passenger and cargo haulage due to high associated costs.
“These costs can be brought down if we have political commitment to implement the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) agreement,” he noted.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 24th February 2022: EAC staff, delegates, members of its Organs and Institutions and visitors can now easily conduct banking services at the EAC premises, following the launch of a Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) Tanzania mini-branch, at the EAC Secretariat Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The move followed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the EAC Secretary General Dr. Peter Mathuki and KCB Tanzania Managing Director Mr. Cosmas Kimario set to guide the establishment and extension of banking services by the regional lender at the EAC premises.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 24th February 2022: The EAC Partner States are currently engaging in internal consultations with a view to ensuring that they are involved in the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA).
EPAs are trade and development agreements negotiated between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Partners engaged in regional economic integration processes.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th February, 2022: East African Community Partner States have adopted the EAC Tariff Offer for Category A products amounting to 90.2 per cent (5,129 tariff lines out of the total 5,688 lines) to be liberalised in 10 years after the start of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
The EAC is now among the State Parties that have met the minimum requirements for Category A to start trading on a provisional basis under AfCFTA. The EAC is negotiating the AfCFTA as a bloc.
An EAC Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) held on Friday further directed the EAC Secretariat to submit the EAC Tariff Offer for Category A to the AfCFTA as soon as possible.
The Extra-Ordinary SCTIFI also directed the EAC Secretariat to convene an Experts meeting by 15th April, 2022 to consider categories B and C of the EAC Tariff Offer.
The EAC Partner States tariff offers will now be subjected to verification by the AfCFTA Secretariat, which is based in Accra, Ghana.
The AfCFTA has so far verified 29 tariff offers to ensure that they meet the modalities and this will increase to 34 once the EAC Partner States offers are verified.
Verification of the tariff offers will ensure that AfCFTA Member States that meet the minimum requirements start trading under the Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
Speaking at a media briefing, Kenya’s PS for EAC, Dr. Kevit Desai who also chaired the Extra-Ordinary SCTIFI meeting, said that AfCFTA would give Partner States access to an extended market of more than 900 million people.
Dr. Desai said that the Community would also benefit from increased opportunities for trade, employment creation, industrialisation and economic prosperity.
“The expanded opportunities include manufactured products, value addition, regional value chains, agro-processing, motor vehicle assembly, pharmaceuticals, auto spares industries and mineral processing among other areas,” said Dr. Desai.
On the determination of the maximum rate for the Common External Tariff (CET), the SCTIFI directed Partner States to consult on the analysis undertaken by the Secretariat on the proposed maximum CET rates and submit comments on the analysis and the proposed maximum CET rates of 30%, 33% and 35% to the Secretariat by 15th March, 2022.
The Ministers directed the Secretariat to convene an Extra-Ordinary SCTIFI meeting on 18th March, 2022 to deliberate on the maximum CET rate.
Dr. Desai told the media that it had been agreed that Partner States consult key stakeholders on the proposed maximum CET rates and submit comments to the Secretariat by 15th March, 2022.
The EAC Secretariat made a presentation to the SCTIFI on the analysis it had undertaken on the proposed rates of 30%, 33% and 35% for products classified under the 4th band.
The Secretariat said that indicators of measure of benefit for products identified to be covered in the maximum tariff band are positive except for welfare loss, which is transitory.
The proposed various maximum CET rates will have diverse macroeconomic impacts. On the implications for revenue, the average potential short-term impact on EAC Partner States total tax revenues increases by 3.9 % (scenario 1 – 30%), 4.9% `(scenario 2 – 33%) and 5.5% (scenario 3 – 35%).
On employment, employment generation increases marginally with 0.02 % (5,055 persons) under the maximum rate of 30%; 0.03% (6,089 persons) with a maximum rate of 33% applied; and 0.03% (6,781 persons) increase in average EAC formal employment under the maximum rate of 35%.
On the implications for trade, potential trade diversion into the EAC (intra-EAC trade) increases by $13.03 million under the 30% maximum rate, $16.51 million with a maximum rate of 33% and 18.9 with the highest rate of 35%.
On industrial development, industrial production increases under each of the proposed maximum CET rates of 30%, 33% and 35%, with the highest rate of 35% conferring the greatest gains in industrial output. There is a 0.02% ($7.7 million) increase in industrial output with an applied maximum rate of 30%; 0.03% ($10.3 million) increase in production with a rate of 33%; and 0.04% ($12.1 million) increase in output with the highest rate at 35%.
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.
… Ministers call for fast-tracking of the establishment of the Regional Consultative Process
East African Community, Kigali, Rwanda17thFebruary , 2022: The East African Community (EAC) Conference to establish Regional Consultative Process (RCP) on Migration concluded in Kigali, Rwanda.
The main objective of the conference was to consider and discuss the proposal for the establishment of the Regional Consultative Process on Migration for the EAC as a platform for regional information-sharing and policy dialogue dedicated to discuss specific migration issues in a cooperative manner among EAC Partner States.
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY
