East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania,3rd December, 2025:The East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) and the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), in collaboration with regional and global partners in the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) ecosystem, announce the call for abstracts for the 4th EAC Regional Science, Technology and Innovation Conference. The Conference will take place from 4th to 6th March, 2026 in Kigali, Rwanda.
Convened under the theme “Harnessing Responsible Artificial Intelligence for the East Africa We Envision,” the Conference will bring together policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, academicians, innovators, students, development partners and civil society to deliberate on the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in advancing regional development and integration.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st December, 2025: The new Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) headquarters has been officially inaugurated. The inauguration ceremony was presided over by Hon. Beatrice Askul, Cabinet Secretary for East African Community and Regional Affairs and Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, on behalf of H.E. Dr. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya and Chairperson of the East African Community Heads of State Summit.
Hon. Askul said the new complex symbolises East Africa’s collective vision for a stronger, more integrated, and more prosperous region. She noted that the headquarters is more than a physical structure, describing it as a strategic investment in the livelihoods of the millions who rely on Africa’s largest freshwater ecosystem.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 21st November, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) has partnered with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) to develop a Regional Blue Economy Strategy and Action Plan (2025–2034).
The Strategy and Action Plan was formulated with technical and financial support from the Sub-Regional Office of Eastern Africa of UNECA (SRO-EA).
The strategy provides a comprehensive framework for the sustainable use and conservation of aquatic resources, including oceans, lakes, and rivers to drive socio-economic development and enhance food security across the East African Community.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th November, 2025: East Africans stand to gain from more integrated markets, better access to financing and wider opportunities for small businesses to grow, following commitments made by Partner State government officials and sector players during the 25th East African Community (EAC) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Trade Fair held in Nairobi, Kenya.
Partner State Ministers responsible for Trade and MSME Development, as well as EAC Affairs, also committed to accelerating MSME competitiveness within the evolving green economy, noting the importance of supporting MSMEs through targeted green-finance mechanisms, technical assistance and closer collaboration with business support organisations.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 18th November, 2025: The Preview Edition of the Lake Victoria State of the Basin Report (2025) was officially unveiled during a side event at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 30) in Belém, Brazil
The report provides comprehensive insights into the ecological health, socio-economic dynamics, and governance trends of the Lake Victoria Basin, home to more than 45 million people across five EAC Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th November, 2025: East Africans are trading more with each other and benefiting from an increasingly connected marketplace, with intra-EAC trade growing by 27%, from USD 14.2 billion to USD 18 billion between June 2024 and June 2025.
Within the same period, total EAC trade with the rest of the world increased by 22%, rising from USD 115.4 billion to USD 140.8 billion.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 11th November, 2025: In an innovative move set to revolutionise how people send and spend money across East Africa, Rwanda and Tanzania have commenced bi-lateral discussions on technical modalities to link their national retail payment systems switches. The move marks a crucial step toward enabling instant, low-cost cross-border money transfers for citizens and businesses across the region.
This landmark initiative, which moved into its technical implementation phase at an ongoing high-level meeting in Kigali, will connect Tanzania’s Instant Payment System (TIPS) with Rwanda’s National Payment Switch (RSWITCH). Once operational, the linkage will allow individuals and businesses in both countries to send and receive money between bank accounts and mobile money wallets seamlessly and in real time.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 10th November, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) recorded a strong upswing in international merchandise trade during the second quarter of 2025, underscoring the region’s resilience and growing competitiveness in global markets. According to the latest EAC Quarterly Statistics Bulletin, total trade rose by 28.4% to USD 38.2 billion, up from USD 29.7 billion in the same quarter of 2024.
This performance was driven largely by exports, which surged by 40.5% to USD 18.6 billion, reflecting rising global demand for EAC products. Imports grew more moderately by 18.8% to USD 19.6 billion. As a result, the trade deficit narrowed significantly from USD 3.2 billion to USD 0.9 billion, marking a notable improvement in the external trade balance.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 24th October, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) today officially launched and flagged off its Election Observation Mission (EOM) to observe the General Elections in the United Republic of Tanzania.
The deployment of the mission follows an invitation by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and is in line with a directive of the EAC Council of Ministers requiring the Secretariat to observe elections in all Partner States. This underscores the EAC’s unwavering commitment to democratic governance, peace, and stability in the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 22nd October, 2025: Leaders and technical experts from nine Eastern African countries have united to fast-track regional spectrum harmonisation, a critical step toward achieving affordable, high-quality broadband connectivity and realising the vision of a Single Digital Market for Eastern Africa.
The Joint Spectrum Management and Knowledge Exchange Workshop, held on 20th October, 2025 in Kigali, Rwanda, brought together representatives from the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the GSM Association (GSMA) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with support from the World Bank under the Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP).
