East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 3rd June 2022: Deepening economic integration, strengthening regional peace and security mechanisms, and implementing the road map for the attainment of the EAC Monetary Union are some of Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki’s key priorities in steering the regional integration agenda in the next year.
The EAC Secretary General underscored these priorities during a virtual forum dubbed, ‘State of the EAC Forum - SG’s 1 year in office,’ seeking to share the progress, achievements, and challenges of the EAC in the last year, and the way forward.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 2nd June, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) has tabled before the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) the budget estimates for the 2022/2023 Financial Year totaling US$91,579,215.
Presenting the speech before the Assembly, the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for EAC and Regional Development, Hon. Betty C. Maina, said that the budget estimates for the Financial Year 2022/22023 are being presented at a time when the world’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is under threat from the rising prices of fuel and other commodities, occasioned by the Russian - Ukrainian conflict.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 27th May 2022 – Countries in Eastern Africa including Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania have begun cooperation in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) after adopting the Regional TVET Qualifications Framework.
In a communique issued at the end of the meeting by Hon. Dr. Bekir Shale, the State Minister, Ministry of Labour & Skills, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia; Dr. Margaret Mwakima, the Principal Secretary State Department of Vocational and Technical Training, Ministry of Education, Republic of Kenya; Prof. Eliamani M. Sedoyeka, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, United Republic of Tanzania, the three countries re-affirmed their “commitment to foster regional integration by adopting the Regional TVET Qualifications Framework and Tanzania and 44 related regional occupational standards developed under EASTRIP”.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 27th May, 2022: The delegation from the Republic of Guinea consisting of Commissioners of Immigration, Police, and Customs, and representatives from the African Capacity Building Center in Moshi, United Republic of Tanzania, paid a working visit to the EAC Headquarters and held discussions with Ag. Director, of Social Sectors at the EAC Secretariat Mr. Stephen Niyonzima on behalf of the EAC Secretary General Hon. (Dr). Peter Mathuki.
The purpose of their visit was to gain insight into the major developments taking place in the integration process as well as challenges experienced within the EAC, especially on areas of Trade and Customs, Peace and Security, and Immigration as well as to share the experience of the same from ECOWAS.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th May, 2022: The EAC’s quest to strengthen its partnerships and strategically refocus to respond to East Africans' needs, has today been affirmed by development partners, who committed to support key priorities under the 6th EAC Development Strategy.
This follows the 3rd East African Community Development Partners Group (DPG) Forum held at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, providing a platform for the EAC to share critical priorities anchored in the EAC Vision 2050, the 6th EAC Development Strategy, the Comprehensive COVID-19 recovery plan, and funding needs of the EAC Programmes and Projects.
Addressing the forum, the EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr) Peter Mathuki revealed the 6th EAC Development Strategy is estimated to cost US$ 691.5m over the next five years, with additional resources required to implement other critical regional programmes and projects in the different sectors. These include; 286 Heads of State Infrastructure priority projects and the nine priority projects in the health sector, which require investments amounting to US$78 billion and US$3.5 billion, respectively, over the next ten years.
“We intend to incorporate and mainstream cross-cutting issues such as gender, youth, social safeguards, and poverty reduction in our programmes and projects,” said Dr.Mathuki.
In the wake of DRC’s admission to the bloc, the Secretary General urged the partners to support the implementation of the road-map for the integration of DRC into the EAC.
In addition, the Secretary General implored the Partners to support EAC projects and activities. He expressed concern over the decline in regional funding, caused by competition for resources by other parties over the years, which has furthered bureaucracy, resulting to delays and inefficient implementation of programmes.
On her part, the Ambassador of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Republic Tanzania, and Co-chair of the EAC –DPG Forum, H.E Regine Hess, noted that the forum provides an opportunity to promote better coordination of development support to the EAC by various development partners.
Amb. Hess appreciated the willingness of the EAC Secretariat to engage on sector specific priority areas particularly on key regional priorities given the wide and ambitious portfolio of EAC.
“Let me assured the EAC that the development Partners are committed to supporting the key priorities areas as articulated in the 6th EAC Development Strategy,” she said.
The high-level meeting was preceded by technical thematic meetings on Infrastructure and Economic Integrationwhich sought to foster synergies and leverage on the available resources, while avoiding duplication of efforts in financing EAC programmes and projects.
The forum was attended by multiple key development partners, Ambassadors accredited to the EAC; EAC Heads EAC Organs and Institutions, the East African Business Council among other stakeholders.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka Senior Public Relations Officer Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 768 552087 Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th May, 2022: The East African Community (EAC), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) have officially handed over handwashing facilities to authorities in six EAC Partner States as part of efforts to strengthen cross border collaboration on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). A total of 32 such facilities have been built in high risk areas for the spread of infectious diseases in the six countries of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda. The cooperation project that ended with the hand-over of these facilities also included risk and crisis communication and sensitization measures in the respective communities.
The handwashing facility at Kamanga Point of Entry in the city of Mwanza was handed over to the government of Tanzania on 14 May, 2022. This happened during a regional meeting held from 12 to 14 May, 2022 in Mwanza that brought together national authorities, experts, decision-makers, and key stockholders from across the EAC region. The meeting also aimed to identify and address gaps in strengthening cross-border preparedness and response and promote regional standards and policies in accordance with the International Health Standards (IHS).
The programme will enhance policy and regulatory environment for competitive markets and improve infrastructure connectivity and access to ICT.
Lusaka, Thursday, May 12, 2022: Five Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are set to benefit from a new eight million euros project: Enhancement of Governance and Enabling Environment in the ICT sector (EGEE-ICT), funded by the European Union. The project was launched on Thursday 12 May, 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia.
The four-year programme covers 29 African countries from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as the lead, the East African Community (EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It will support the review and/or development of various regional policy and regulatory framework in a harmonized manner that will contribute to enhancing competition and improved access to cost effective and secure ICT services.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th May, 2022: The East African Community will conduct the 12th EAC Armed Forces Field Training Exercise (FTX) USHIRIKIANO IMARA 2022 in Jinja, Uganda from 27th May to 16th June, 2022.
The exercise will be conducted in accordance with Article 2 of the EAC Protocol on Cooperation in Defence Affairs under the theme, “Promoting Peace, Security and Stability towards the East African Community Integration.”
The main objective of the exercise is to train the Partner States’ Armed Forces, Police, Civilian components and other stakeholders in planning, and conduct an integrated mission encompassing; peace support operations, disaster management, counter terrorism and counter piracy.
