East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 11th June, 2019: The Field Simulation Exercise (FSX) organized by the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the World Health Organization(WHO) through the “Support to Pandemic Preparedness in the EAC Region” (PanPrep) has started at Namanga border between the Republic of Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania.
The main objective of the four-day exercise is to assess coordination mechanisms, command and control systems and information sharing channels between multiple sectors and countries; (e.g. activation of the EAC emergency structure, incident management systems and relevant emergency operations centre.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 8th June, 2019: The 15th EAC Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports Concluded on Friday 7th June 2019 at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The 5-day meeting was convened to consider matters related to Education and Training; Culture and Sports; the East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC); the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA); and the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO).
Chairing the meeting, Mr. Samuel Mulindwa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Republic of Rwanda pointed out the important role of Education, Science and Technology and Innovation in the development of the East African Region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 8th June, 2019: The 15th EAC Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports Concluded on Friday 7th June 2019 at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The 5-day meeting was convened to consider matters related to Education and Training; Culture and Sports; the East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC); the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA); and the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO).
Chairing the meeting, Mr. Samuel Mulindwa, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Republic of Rwanda pointed out the important role of Education, Science and Technology and Innovation in the development of the East African Region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th June 2019: The Ministerial Session of the 14th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Energy was today called off due to lack of quorum at the EAC Headquarters.
The Rules of Procedure for the Council of Ministers provide that quorum of the meeting of the Council is all Partner States’ representation. The representation at the Ministerial Session of the Council requires a Minister or Ministers designated by that Partner State.
The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which was launched on 10th June 2015, aims to establish a single market for 27 African countries with a combined population of about 700 million people (57% of Africa’s population), and Gross Domestic Product above USD 1.4 trillion.
The TFTA is built on three pillars (market integration, infrastructure development and industrial development) and there is a parallel agreement on movement of business persons. The Tripartite approach reflects the desire to advance regional integration from multiple fronts. As such, the TFTA would facilitate development of regional infrastructure for cross-border trade and lead to harmonisation of trade regimes amongst Tripartite Member/Partner States, stimulate industrial development through creation of value chains and facilitate movement of business persons.
As part of the market integration pillar, Member/Partner States have been engaged in bilateral tariff liberalisation negotiations. The market access negotiations between the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU), consisting of Botswana, Eswatini, Lesotho, Namibia and South Africa, and the East African Community (EAC), which consists of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda have largely been successfully concluded.
The conclusion of the SACU-EAC negotiations marks a significant step towards realising the benefits of the TFTA. The main aim of the SACU-EAC market access negotiations has always been to provide commercially meaningful market access for the private sector in the two regions.
The SACU-EAC private sector will thus have access to new and dynamic markets for exports as well as new sources of inputs for domestic production processes, thereby enhancing intra-regional trade.
Furthermore, there is emphasis on the development of regional value chains in a wide range of sectors, to deepen integration between SACU and the EAC.
The conclusion of the negotiations provides an opportunity for the TFTA to be a building block and to have a coordinated approach for negotiations in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
-ENDS-
For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 5th June, 2019: A five-day East African Community Sectoral Council Meeting on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports is currently ongoing at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The 15th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Education, Science and Technology, Culture and Sports started with the Session of Senior Officials on 3rd June, 2019 and ends Wednesday, 5th June, 2019. The Coordination Committee or the Session of Permanent/Principal/Under Secretaries will be held on Thursday, 6th June, 2019, and the Ministerial Session on Friday, 7th June, 2019.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania 3rd June, 2019: A five-day East African Community Sectoral Council on Energy meeting is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The 14th Sectoral Council meeting started today with the Session of Senior Officials which runs from 3rd to 5thJune, 2019 followed by the Coordination Committee (Session of Permanent/Principal/Under Secretaries) on 6thJune, 2019, and the Ministerial Session on 7thJune, 2019.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 28th May, 2019: The Chairperson of the 20th Meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers for Lake Victoria Basin (20th SECOM), Dr. Vincent Biruta, Minister for Environment of Rwanda has urged delegates from five Partner States of the East African Community to enhance efforts towards meeting present needs without compromising next generation’s needs.
According to the Chairperson of the 20th SECOM, the realization of such development aspiration lies in putting in place a green economy model, ensuring social equity and striving for wellbeing of citizens in East African Partner States. He made the remarks while opening the Ministerial Session of the 20th SECOM held in Kisumu, Republic of Kenya, 24th May 2019.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27th May, 2019: A five-day East African Community Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) meeting is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The SCTIFI meeting started today with the Session of Senior Officials which runs from 27th to 29thMay, 2019 followed by the Coordination Committee (Session of Permanent/Principal/Under Secretaries) on 30thMay, 2019 and the Ministers Session on 31stMay, 2019.
Kampala, May 22nd, 2019: The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), a Regional Facilitation Unit for the World Bank-supported Africa Centers of Excellence for East and Southern Africa Project (ACE II) has completed the process of selection of Incubation Centers to be hosted at four of the Africa Centers of Excellence (ACEs). Each Center will receive a financial award of US$ 250,000, a World Bank grant, as seed funds for the establishment of these regional Incubation Centers for East and Southern Africa. The ACEs selected to host the Incubation Centers are:
ACEESD – African Center of Excellence in Energy for Sustainable Development, University of Rwanda
CREATES – Center for Research Advancement, Teaching Excellence and Sustainability in Food and Nutrition Security, Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology, Tanzania
PHARMBIOTRAC – Center for Pharm-Bio Technology and Traditional Technology, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Uganda
PTRE - Center of Excellence in Phytochemicals, Textile and Renewable Energy based at Moi University, Kenya
IUCEA received 15 proposals in response to a call that was issued in June 2018. The call invited any African Center of Excellence participating in the ACE II Project to submit proposals to host Incubation Centers through a co-financing arrangement in the four priority areas of the ACE II Project which include health, industry, agriculture, and education/applied statistics. The proposals were evaluated through a rigorous 3-step process by an international team of experts with extensive experience in business incubation, start-ups creation and successful commercialization of innovations and covered a diverse array of important topics -- such as energy for sustainable development, innovative drugs development, food and nutrition security, among others -- that are critical to the development of the region.
In the evaluation process priority was given to ACEs that already had good enough products that may require improvement, promotion for wider markets and potential for business incubation, i.e. the process of nurturing of early stage ventures to success. Another key criterion considered was the capacity to source additional sources of co-financing for the Center, to ensure the long-term financial sustainability of the incubation center.
According to Dr. K. A. Appiah, a member of the Regional Steering Committee of the ACE II project who chaired the Independence Selection Panel, "the quality of the proposals that were submitted was quite high, and it was a difficult decision to have to select only 4 out of the 15 proposals submitted,” he said. He added, “We hope that more funding can be made available by host governments and other institutions to fund other incubation centers. Our international team of experts were very impressed and eager to work with the selected ACEs to ensure that the selected incubation centers are successful in commercializing research innovations towards job creation and economic growth."
The selection panel recommended that although the fifth selected institution, Center for Innovative Drugs Development and Therapeutic Trials for Africa (CDT-Africa) could not be funded, the proposal “was one of the best and needed to be considered as a non-funded Incubation Center.”
The IUCEA and the World Bank believe that such incubation centers will help build important linkages between academia and industry to help galvanize business growth in these priority areas that are critical to long-term growth and development of the region.
“The World Bank believes strongly in the innovation potential of African research, as a key lever in the continued economic development of the continent, and these incubations centers will serve as important hubs where the impact of research can be transformed to commercial opportunities. We hope these centers will be the first among many to follow,” said Dr. Roberta Malee Bassett, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank and Task Team Leader for ACE II Project.
The Eastern and Southern Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence (ACE II) Project supports the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia in strengthening selected African Centers of Excellence (ACEs) to deliver quality post-graduate education and build collaborative research capacity in the priority areas of (i) Industry, (ii) Agriculture, (iii) Health, (iv) Education, and (v) Applied Statistics.
