East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th January2023: African countries have been asked to provide investment incentives to businesses operating in the agribusiness, green and blue economy in order to reduce the soaring costs of basic foodstuffs coupled with rising inflation in Africa.
African Governments have further been urged to facilitate access to capital and crowd-funding to support SMEs in Africa, through the use of Government Guarantee Funds (GGFs) and Privately Driven Guarantee Funds (PDGFs) including subsidizing agricultural production for key sectors such as cereals, vegetable, and palm oil to reduce the costs of production to enhance global competitiveness.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 18th December, 2022: East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been called upon to seek local solutions to the huge gap in financing facing Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the region.
Uganda’s Minister of State for EAC Affairs, Hon. James Magode Ikuya, further urged the Partner States to address the twin issues of limited skills for production and poor standards and quality of products among others.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th December, 2022: The seven (7) East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been urged to hasten integration to create a bigger market for businesses in the region.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni said that East Africa’s small, disintegrated economies can do so little in terms of trade and investment, adding that Partner States need to integrate as a matter of survival to create bigger markets.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 24th October, 2022: The Republic of Burundi is on verge of setting up a National Competition Agency to encourage competition and enhance consumer welfare in the country.
Burundi’s Minister for Trade, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Madame Marie Chantal Nijimbere, made the announcement when she met the Registrar of the East African Community Competition Authority (EACA), Ms. Lilian Mukoronia, in Bujumbura, Burundi.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 20th October, 2022: Preparations for the 22nd Edition of the East African Community (EAC) Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Trade Fair, popularly known as the Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition, are in high gear.
The 22nd edition of the annual EAC Jua Kali/Nguvu Kazi Exhibition, which will be held under the theme “Buy East African to Build East Africa for Resilience and Sustainable Development,” is expected to attract more than 1,000 artisans from all the seven (7) EAC Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th June, 2022: African countries have been called upon to prioritise infrastructure development even as they advocate free intra-continental trade through African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) framework.
Tanzania’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Hon. (Amb.) Liberata Mulamula said that interconnectivity across Africa was crucial if the continent was to exploit its vast potential for industrialisation, trade and investment.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th May 2022: East African Community (EAC) Ministers / Cabinet Secretary in charge of Trade and Finance have adopted 35 percent as the 4th Band of the EAC Common External Tariff (CET).
The Ministers, during a retreat on the comprehensive review of the CET, held on 5th May 2022, in Mombasa, Kenya, decided that implementation of the reviewed EAC CET shall commence on 1st July, 2022.
The meeting further agreed that there should be flexibility in implementation of the revised CET, particularly on products currently affected by the current global economic realities.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 24th February 2022: The EAC Partner States are currently engaging in internal consultations with a view to ensuring that they are involved in the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreements (EPA).
EPAs are trade and development agreements negotiated between the EU and African, Caribbean and Pacific Partners engaged in regional economic integration processes.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 11th January, 2022: The Republic of Uganda has committed to conduct free Covid-19 rapid tests at the Kenya-Uganda border points of Busia and Malaba for (seven (7) days to clear the truck traffic snarl-up that has disrupted intra-EAC trade on the Northern Transit Corridor.
This follows a joint multi-sectoral virtual meeting of the Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries responsible for EAC Affairs, Health and Transport convened by the EAC Secretariat.
Currently, over 4,500 trucks have stalled at the two border posts due to the mandatory Covid-19 testing requirement introduced by Uganda on 20th December, 2021.
East African Community, Mwanza, Tanzania, 6th December, 2021: The EAC Secretary General Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki said Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) play a crucial role in the economic development of East African countries, accounting for 90% of businesses and 80% of employment especially among youth and women.
Speaking during the official opening of the 21stMSMEs Trade Fair at Rock City Grounds, Mwanza, United Republic of Tanzania, Dr. Mathuki reiterated that EAC Partner States still have a critical role in enabling MSMEs growth to ensure long term sustainability and recovery by promoting programs that prioritise MSMEs to spur demand for quality finished goods and progressively improve the region’s competitiveness.
