Posted in Press Release
The German Ambassador to the United Republic of Tanzania and the East African Community, H.E. Egon Kochanke, today paid a courtesy call at the EAC Secretariat.
H.E. Kochanke was received at the EAC Headquarters by Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, the EAC Deputy Secretary General (DSG) in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, on behalf of the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko.
H.E. Kochanke congratulated Mr. Bazivamo on his recent appointment as DSG at the Heads of State Summit held in Dar-es-Salaam on 8th September, 2016.
The DSG and the German envoy discussed, among other things, how to strengthen the EAC-German cooperation for purposes of accelerating the integration process.
The German Ambassador expressed his country’s willingness to support the integration agenda by contributing to the Partnership Fund, which he described as a good instrument that enables EAC to directly access funds to facilitate a myriad of activities and programmes within the region.
Commenting on the progress of the dialogue process for Burundi Peace Talks, the German Ambassador hailed the Facilitator of the Inter-Burundi Dialogue, former President of the United Republic of Tanzania, H.E. Benjamin William Mkapa for being able to mobilize a large number of representatives to attend the dialogues.
Hon. Bazivamo also briefed H.E Kochanke on the status of EAC-EU-EPA; peace and security restoration and mediation dialogues in Burundi; as well as the status and procedure of integrating the Republic of South Sudan into the EAC.
He thanked the German government for its generous support to the EAC over the years, adding that the German government had extended 67 million Euros, which funds were channeled to finance various initiatives within the region for three years from 2015, for instance, the health and pharmaceutical sectors as well as Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) projects among others.
Hon. Bazivamo noted that the Community was working to achieve the most important milestones within the Customs Union (Single Customs Territory) and the Common Market protocol, which milestones he added would enable the benefits of integration to trickle down to the people of East Africa. He noted that the trickle down effects would enable the people to appreciate and embrace the integration process. This is the only way they will be fully aware of the integration process.”
Amb. Kochanke was accompanied by Ms. Lena Thiede, Counsellor/Head of EAC Regional Head of Cooperation at the German Embassy in Dar-es-Salaam, and Mr. Bernd Multhaup, GIZ Programme Manager at the EAC Secretariat.
Posted in Press Release
The East African Community (EAC) Secretariat, the European Union (EU), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) jointly organized a high-level conference entitled “Regional Integration in the EAC: Making the Most of the Common Market on the Road to a Monetary Union” in Arusha, Tanzania on October 31–November 1, 2016. Discussions focused on progress in establishing Customs Union and Common Market so far, steps for strengthening them, and the prerequisites for an effective transition to East African Monetary Union (EAMU).
The conference brought together Finance Ministers and Ministers in charge of regional cooperation, Central Bank Governors, other senior policymakers, regional capital markets regulators, academics, civil society, and private sector leaders from across EAC member countries, as well as senior representatives from international financial institutions and other monetary unions. Policymakers of the EAC region reaffirmed their commitment to build a strong economic and monetary union.
Participants assessed the current state and pace of economic integration since the inception of the Customs Union in 2005 and the Common Market in 2010. Participants noted considerable progress towards a single entry visa, processing times at ports, and removal of internal tariffs. As indicated in the second EAC Common Market Scorecard 2016 which evaluates Partner States’ compliance to the free movement of capital, services, and goods, private sector representatives in particular underlined the need for further progress in the areas of non-tariff barriers, rules of origin, tax administration and harmonization, automation of trade process, and labor mobility to facilitate trade of goods and services further. Given experiences in other regions, sequential harmonization could be pursued in implementing the single customs territory and tax harmonization. Accountability and ownership are critical to a successful integration process.
Considerable progress has been made in financial sector integration, including integration of the payment systems and financial markets. In this regard, participants noted still high compliance cost in light of different regulations in member countries. On the Fintech front, however, the EAC region is ahead of many other countries in the world. The importance of proper sequencing and pace of financial integration was stressed in light of risks involved.
Under the theme “The Road toward a Monetary Union,” the status of macroeconomic convergence in the EAC was discussed. Participants acknowledged that fiscal deficits need to be brought down to meet the convergence criterion and to ensure the stability of the future monetary union. Convergence goes beyond headline fiscal deficits and public debt, and fiscal risks need to be monitored closely. Moreover, further progress is needed in data harmonization and monetary policy frameworks and operations, and there is a need to establish the new institutions that will play a key role for the implementation and resilience of the union.
The program, speeches and presentations to the conference are available at:
http://www.imf.org/en/News/Events/Regional-Integration-in-the-EAC.
Following the conference, a forum on “Improvements in East African Statistics Through Capacity Development,” highlighted recent improvements in economic and financial statistics in EAC countries through capacity development initiatives supported by the EAC Secretariat and the IMF.