East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 15th June, 2023: The East African Community (EAC) has launched a campaign aimed at creating awareness on the agri-export trade opportunities that have been created through the EU-EAC Market Access Upgrade Programme (MARKUP).
Through the campaign, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural value chain, co-operatives and farmers, as well as government entities in the EAC will access information and tools on agri-export trade.
Speaking at the 14th June, 2023 launch of the campaign, Ms. Flavia Busingye, the Acting Director of Customs at the EAC Secretariat, said that MARKUP had created numerous trade opportunities for agri-SMEs in the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 13th June, 2023:The East African Community (EAC) has tabled before the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) the budget estimates for the 2023/2024 Financial Year totaling US$103,842,880 for the 2023/2024 Financial Year.
Tabling the speech before the Assembly, the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Burundi’s Minister for EAC Affairs, Youth, Sports and Culture, Hon. Amb. Dr. Ezéchiel Nibigira, said that the budget estimates for the Financial Year 2023/2024 were being presented at a time when the EAC economies were experiencing global shocks arising from the on-going Russia-Ukraine war, tight global financial conditions, lingering effects of Covid-19 and the impact of climate change.
“Despite these challenges, economic growth in the region improved to 4.8 percent in 2022 from 3.5 percent in 2021. The strong growth in the region was supported by the good performance of the industry, services, construction, mining and manufacturing sectors,” said Dr. Nibigira.
…. Appoints new Deputy Secretaries General and Judges
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th June, 2023: The 21st Extra-Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State Summit held in Bujumbura, Burundi adopted the Report of the Verification of the Application of the Federal Republic of Somalia to join EAC.
The Summit further directed the Council of Ministers and EAC Secretariat to commence the negotiations with the Federal Republic of Somalia with immediate effect and report to the next Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State.
The Federal Republic of Somalia made its first application to join the East African Community in 2012. However, the verification mission was not conducted immediately due to various reasons.
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.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 31st May, 2023: EAC Heads of State are set to convene for the 21st Extra-Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, set to take place today, in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The Summit was preceded by the 49th Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers on Tuesday, 30th May, 2023.
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th May, 2023:National consultations for Drafting the Constitution for the proposed East African Community (EAC) Political Confederation concluded in Machakos County, Kenya over the weekend.
The 20-day consultations launched in Mombasa on 9th May, 2023 saw the Committee of Constitutional Experts for Drafting the EAC Political Federation Constitution hold consultations with civil society, local leaders, opinion leaders and the business community, among other stakeholders, to seek their views on what kind of a Political Confederation they would desire for the EAC.
The consultations were done in various areas across the country including Kisumu, Kakamega, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyeri, Embu, Garissa and Nairobi.
CLOSING SESSION FOR EAC POLITICAL CONFEDERATION CONSTITUTION DRAFTING - NATIONAL CONSULTATIONS FOR KENYA
The Committee of Experts tasked with drafting the Constitution for the proposed EAC Political Confederation chaired by Uganda’s retired Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki, will conclude the consultations of collecting views from stakeholders and opinion leaders in Kenya through national consultative forums tomorrow at Maanzoni Lodge, Machakos County, Kenya.
…… as he pledges US$1 million to support the process
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th May, 2023: The President of the Republic of Kenya H.E William Ruto urged the Committee of Experts tasked with drafting the Constitution for the proposed EAC Political Confederation to fast-track the process and have the first draft of constitution latest by the end of June 2024.
The President said that East Africans have always lived together and would not wait for the Partner States to establish the confederation in order to continue with their lives, adding that the citizens were well ahead of their national governments in as far as the integration process was concerned.
