Trade disputes and mistrust scuttling EAC Integration?

The common market was signed on November 20 2009 by the five EAC Heads of State, and came into force on July 1, 2010, where the five east African countries freed up the movement of people, products, and capital across borders, furthering East Africa’s dream of broad political unification.

The transformation and growth of the East African Community, aimed to become a monetary union by 2012 and have a common currency by 2015, with political federation to come soon after.

The East African Community was founded in 1967 by Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda but collapsed a decade later over political infighting between member states.

The EAC integration process involves four stages – the Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union, and finally a Political Federation. The integration process is currently at the common market stage and expected to move to a monetary union (MU).

However, trade disputes and mistrust among member states threaten to scuttle efforts to integrate the East African Community into a single economic and political bloc.

Hardline positions taken by the member states on various issues affecting the region has watered down provisions in the Treaty, which provides for peaceful settlement of disputes. Read More: 

New trade policy for the UK, to ushers a new opportunity for Africa

Last year, Britain voted unanimously to leave the European Union.

The question, however, remained: is Britain’s exit going to impact negatively on the economies of Africa?

However, ‘Getting the Future Africa-UK Trade Partnership Right’ was the subject of an expert group meeting held during the just-ended 10th Session of the Committee on Regional Cooperation and Integration that was held in Addis Ababa.

The objective of the meeting was to discuss the findings and recommendations of an ATPC-ODI Brexit Research Programme, which is part of a broader partnership funded by UK Department for International Trade and Development (DIFD) to look into the trade relationship between the UK and Africa. Read More:

Kenya among Top Sub-Saharan African Countries For Healthcare Investment In 2018

Kurt Davis Jr., an investment banker focusing on the natural resources and energy sectors, with private equity experience in emerging economies has ranked Kenya among top five sub-Saharan African countries for tapping into expanding the healthcare investment opportunity in 2018.

He writes that more than 30 million Kenyans lack any form of basic insurance and are generally served by low-quality healthcare facilities. Many Kenyans, including the middle class, cover healthcare emergencies through pooling of money from family and/or coworkers, leaving them financially vulnerable to each health concern, whether small or large.

Financial institutions able to tap into this space can change lives, particularly through mobile technology that can engage a large bandwidth of potential insurance purchasers.

Secondly, Kenya has north of 5,000 pharmacies, most of which do not possess a license nor uphold quality controls to meet international standards.

Other opportunities also include medical device investment—both therapeutic and diagnostic—as well as ICT solutions for reaching rural populations. Establishing a training facility for nurses and doctors to build Kenyan and the larger East African region would be beneficial too. Read More