… As Partner States eye unified legal framework for data protection
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 16th September, 2025: The EAC, under the Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP), has taken another important step towards creating a common framework to safeguard personal data and strengthen cybersecurity in the region. This follows the Second Meeting of the Technical Working Group (TWG) on the Development of Data Protection and Cyber Security Legal Frameworks, held from 8th to 12th September, 2025 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 11th September, 2025: The EAC Partner States are taking bold steps to make roaming across the region cheaper, fairer, and more sustainable. The Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP) conducted national consultations with Governments, regulators, and mobile operators in August 2025, as part of the project’s connectivity market development and integration objective to enhance the EAC One Network Area (ONA) framework.
During the consultations, Partner States and sector players agreed on a new drive to strengthen the ONA framework, which has already slashed roaming costs but still faces gaps that must be addressed.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3rd September, 2025: The Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP) has kicked off a joint Project Implementation Support Mission in Nairobi, bringing together the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the World Bank.
The four-day mission, which started on 2nd September, aims to assess project progress, address implementation challenges, and identify activities that can be undertaken jointly by the two Regional Economic Communities, EAC and IGAD.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th July, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) have taken a significant step towards regional financial integration, with the convening of a five-day workshop on payment systems interoperability. The IGAD-EAC-World Bank Joint Workshop, convened from 30th June to 4th July, 2025 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, brought together Central Banks, digital finance experts, and senior policymakers from nine countries with a focus on advancing harmonised legal, regulatory, and supervisory frameworks that will enable faster, safer, and more inclusive cross-border payments across the Eastern Africa region
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 14th May, 2025: The 2nd Edition of the East African Digital Leaders Forum on Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is currently underway at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The forum seeks to to review progress, facilitate joint action and foster cross-border digital infrastructure development in the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 14th May, 2025: The 28th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) approved the EAC Cross-border Payment System Masterplan, a transformative initiative aimed at enhancing financial integration, promoting regional trade and accelerating the region’s journey toward a seamless, efficient, and secure payment ecosystem.
The MAC Meeting, constituted by the Governors of the EAC Partner States’ Central Banks, reviewed progress made in the implementation of the roadmap towards realisation of a single currency by 2031.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th May, 2025: The EAC has made significant progress toward regional digital transformation with the convening of the Regional E-Commerce Engagement Platform (EEP).
The meeting, held from 8th to 9th May, 2025 in Kampala, Uganda, focused on validating the Action Plan for Harmonisation of E-Transaction Legislations and updating the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) Tool that tracks the implementation of the EAC E-Commerce Strategy.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th March, 2025: The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat have launched an innovative Data Governance Training Programme for judicial officers, marking a significant step towards enhancing judicial expertise in data governance, privacy and legal adjudication.
The inaugural training session for the programme took place from 11th to 13th March, 2025, in Kigali, Rwanda. The programme is designed to equip judges with the necessary knowledge and skills to interpret and enforce the proposed EAC Data Protection and Privacy Act, ensuring a harmonised regional approach to data governance in the era of emerging technologies.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th March, 2025: The East African Community (EAC) has taken a significant step towards revolutionising cross-border payments with the regional validation of the Draft EAC Cross-Border Payment System Masterplan.
This milestone, attained during the EAC Regional Payment Systems Steering Committee meeting held in Mombasa, Kenya from 17th to 21st March, 2025, aims to enhance the speed, security, affordability and integration of payment systems across the region.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 30th January, 2025: The EAC is poised to accelerate regional digital integration with the development of an EAC Payment Systems Masterplan.
The Masterplan is set to harmonise legal, regulatory and oversight frameworks to promote a conducive cross-border payment ecosystem in the region.
