EAC Logo

 
 

Press Release

Zanzibar President, Dr Shein opens African region Commonwealth Parliamentarians' Association Conference

…EALA Speaker in attendance, calls for leverage of ICTs in Parliamentary democracy

East African Legislative Assembly, Zanzibar, Tanzania: 2 September, 2019: The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association African Regional Conference commenced in Zanzibar, Tanzania, with continental legislators rooting for increased usage of the internet and electronic systems to leverage parliamentary democracy.

H.E Dr Ali Mohammed Shein, President of Zanzibar and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council, opened the Conference as the august body celebrated its golden Jubilee in the coastline of Zanzibar.

Continue Reading

EAC Centres of Excellence in Health to build local capacity in healthcare

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th August, 2019: The East African Community has expanded the region’s capacity to deliver high quality health services through the establishment of Regional Centres of Excellence (RCoEs) in the Partner States.

EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of the Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, further disclosed that the the RCoEs would also provide quality education, vocational training and research to students and practitioners in the health sector.

Hon. Bazivamo named the RCoEs as those for Kidney Diseases (Kenya); Heart Diseases (Tanzania); Cancer (Uganda); e-Health, Biomedical Engineering and Health Rehabilitation Sciences (Rwanda), and; Vaccines, Immunization and Health Supply Chain Management (Rwanda).

“We cannot develop skills adequately in these areas at the national level, but we can do so through these Centres of Excellence in the Partner States,” said Hon. Bazivamo.

Hon. Bazivamo said it was anticipated that the Centres of Excellence in health would reduce the huge numbers of East Africans travelling to India to seek specialized medical care.

Hon. Bazivamo was speaking at the EAC Headquarters when he received three Senators from the Kenya Senate Standing Committee on National Cohesion, Equal Opportunity and Regional Integration. The Senate Committee is undertaking a fact-finding mission to engage EAC Organs and Institutions from 18th to 30th August, 2019. On the team were Senators Judy Pareno, Mercy Chebeni and Christine Zawadi.

The Deputy Secretary General briefed the Senators on the progress made by the Community in the four stages of integration, namely: the Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Political Federation.

He cited some of the achievements made by the EAC over the past two decades as: increased intra-regional trade, reduction of non-tariff barriers, infrastructure development, harmonisation of education systems and curricula, development of the EAC international e-passport, signing of Mutual Recognition Agreements, payment of tuition fees at local rates by EAC nationals studying in other Partner States, and increased cross-border investment.

He singled out the tendency by Partner States to prioritise national programmes as opposed to those agreed upon at the regional level saying this posed challenges to the implementation of EAC projects and programmes.

In her remarks, Senator Judy Pareno said that the Committee was on a fact-finding mission to enable them understand the EAC and the role of the Community’s Organs and Institutions in the implementation of the EAC Treaty, in addition to their achievements and challenges.

The Senators noted that there was lack of awareness among East Africans on the EAC integration process, adding that Partner States governments and the EAC should do more to sensitise people at the grassroots on the Community and its role in their lives.

- ENDS -

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 Sudna, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

Syngrafii, East African Community & TradeMark East Africa Collaborate on Virtual Document Execution

TORONTO – Syngrafii Inc. – August 8th, 2019 – Syngrafii Inc. and TradeMark East Africa have collaborated and partnered with the EAC Secretariat to transform the method of executing agreements amongst and between the Partner States through the deployment of a Digital Channel for the remote signing of official documents.  TMEA has facilitated the deployment of the Syngrafii platform within the EAC Secretariat where we have installed the first Syngrafii LongPen™ in conjunction with sPaper™ to deliver improved operational performance, greater geographic market reach and faster document execution for the EAC Member States.  This will service both diverse governmental initiatives and their respective business units along with their partners and the constituents they serve.

Highlights:

The EAC Secretariat has adopted ICTs and continues to develop IT infrastructure in order to facilitate and support daily activities and operations. This has resulted in an increased efficiency. The EAC Secretariat established a Video Conferencing system between its headquarters and Partner States to facilitate its core business needs.

It wished to enhance the VC system by introducing an online signature system. There is a requirement to implement a system that allows a report to be signed online immediately after a meeting.

The solution integrates the LongPen™ and sPaper™ for the signing of critical and highly confidential documents which require an authenticated “Wet-Ink” signature in order to meet the diverse, geographically constrained governmental compliance and governance requirements.

  • Syngrafii’s LongPen™ Printer and sPaper™ enables The EAC signing Ministers to execute complex, highly sensitive legal agreements and contracts in a more timely manner while enhancing the level of compliance and improving the global carbon footprint.
  • Syngrafii’s seamless integration into The EAC’s operations has resulted in an immediate improvement to our document execution processes. The EAC will be able to reduce Minister and staff travel times while meeting or exceeding tight timelines of completion.  The EAC anticipates significantly further benefits as they expand the use of the platform.
  • The Syngrafii system does not require any pre-processing of documents allowing The EAC to use ALL existing approved documents and forms, reducing process change risk; as well as saving time and money on the integration into their operational systems. These savings in time and document management efficiency deliver an additional operational effectiveness.

Supporting Quotes:

The EAC

“We are very excited to be working with Syngrafii on this ground-breaking initiative. We believe that this technology is revolutionary, and it is already changing the way our legally binding documents and agreements are presented and ‘signed’ by our Partner States and other institutions and supporting agencies.

The reaction from our constituents to remote paperless signings thus far has been overwhelmingly positive. They are impressed not only by the fact that the paperwork is being processed faster, they also comment on how convenient & environmentally friendly the process is.

Syngrafii has enabled The EAC to securely sign documents across geographically dispersed locations and operations while exceeding all compliance and non-repudiation requirements of the transaction. Combined with Syngrafii’s convenience and ease of use we can securely, quickly and confidently execute agreements and contracts with our Partners States.”

Further TMEA Testimonial:

“Indeed it has been a pleasure working with Syngrafii. The gains from the operationalization of the online signature system, are perceptible and it has enhanced the speed of decision making at the EAC Secretariat. There are no longer major delays in key Organizational meetings (although of course some meetings remain physical in nature, especially those that require negotiations and longer deliberations).

TMEA is proud to have facilitated that process.”

About TradeMark East Africa

TradeMark (Trade and Markets) East Africa is a multi-purpose donor funded, not-for-profit Aid for Trade organisation, established to support the growth of trade – both regional and international – In East Africa. TMEA operates on a not-for-profit basis and is funded by the development agencies of the following countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Netherlands, Norway, UK, and USA. TMEA works closely with East African Community (EAC) institutions, national governments, the private sector and civil society organisations.

Established in 2010, TMEA supports a portfolio of programmes across the East Africa Community partner countries, working closely with our partners - the EAC Partner States, EAC Secretariat, the private sector and civil society - TMEA has made a significant contribution to this growth by delivering large scale impact in its highly successful first strategic phase which was completed in December 2017.

TMEA Is now embarking on Its second strategic phase for the six years from 2017/18 to 2022/23 known as “Strategy 2” which seeks to increase trade by unlocking economic potential anchored on 2 key outcomes:

  • Reduced barriers to trade; and
  • Improving business competitiveness.

We believe there are several pathways from increased trade to sustainable, inclusive prosperity through, for example, job creation, poverty reduction, economic growth, increased government revenue, enhanced economic welfare, and greater economic resilience.

TMEA has its headquarters in Nairobi with offices in Arusha, Bujumbura, Dar es Salaam, Juba, Kampala and Kigali.

To find out more, please visit the TMEA website at www.trademarkea.com

About Syngrafii Inc.

Syngrafii is the only eSignature company in the world that brings the security & the case law associated with the execution of paper documents into the fast lane of the digital age.

Syngrafii provides the proprietary option of executing original biometric ink signatures onto hard copy or electronic documents when and where you want.

The only Signature solution that protects users’ Signature technology investment & business-forward flexibility. Syngrafii’s Signature platform allows users to implement the right Signature solution they need, whether click-to-sign, Type to sign, or the Gold Standard Wet Ink on Digital & Paper documents.   Syngrafii…  One Vendor…  One Platform

https://www.syngrafii.com

More Information:

Learn more about the Syngrafii LongPen™ & sPaper eSignature Solutions

More Information:
Matthew M. Gibson
CEO and Co-Founder
Syngrafii Inc.
E:  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Eng. Daniel Murenzi
Principal Information Technology Officer
East African Community

Nelson Karanja
Communications Director
TradeMark East Africa

EAC Partner States working to harmonise education systems and curricula in the region

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 15th August 2019: East African Community Partner States are working to harmonise education systems and curricula in the region.

EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, said that the harmonisation would ensure quality and standardised education which would in turn guarantee skilled and tech-savvy manpower for the labour market in the region.

Continue Reading

15 Cyclists on EAC Bicycle Tour flagged off in Arusha

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 13th August, 2019: A group of 15 cyclists who are participating in the 3rd East African Community Bicycle Tour (Tour d’EAC) were today flagged off at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

Flagging off the group of volunteer cyclists, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, hailed the cyclists for their efforts in complementing initiatives by the Secretariat to create awareness on the integration process.

Eng. Mlote noted that it was encouraging that the annual initiative which started with cyclists from Uganda only in 2016, had now expanded to include cyclists from Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania.

He urged the cyclists to mobilize more youth in the region to appreciate the importance of regional integration as a way of empowering East Africans and making East Africa united and stronger.

The Deputy Secretary General said that the movement of the cyclists across the region had been made possible by the free of movement of persons as enshrined in the EAC Common Market Protocol.

Eng. Mlote assured East Africans that the Community was growing stronger with each passing day, adding that it had recorded many achievements which were gradually beginning to trickle down to ordinary East Africans.

In her remarks, Ms Joyce Kevin Abalo from the GIZ Office at the EAC Headquarters, assured the cyclists that the German Technical Cooperation would continue working closely with the EAC Secretariat to ensure that the event was a success.

Ms Abalo urged the cyclists to endeavour to complete the journey noting that success can only be attained through discipline and perseverance.

Speaking at the event, the Coordinator of the Tour D’EAC, Mr John Balongo, requested the EAC Secretariat to include the tour in its Calendar of Activities in the future.

“We also want to request that in future events, all ministries support individual cyclists from their respective countries,” said Balongo, adding that the group’s aim was to educate EAC citizens on the importance of a united East Africa.

“We seek to stir up interest of groups and individuals in the understanding of the land, and people of East Africa. Subsequently, this results into growing personal and group relationships across the region multiplying out into travel, trade and many other beneficial linkages,” he said.

Also present at the event was the EAC Director General, Customs and Trade, Mr Kenneth Bagamuhunda.

The 3rd Tour d’EAC was flagged off on 1st August, 2019 at the Independence Monument in Kampala by Uganda’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Hon. Dr Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, and the Tanzanian High Commissioner to Uganda, H.E. Aziz Ponary Mlima. The cyclists arrived in Nairobi on the evening of Wednesday, 7th August, 2019 where they were hosted by the Ministry of EAC and Regional Development in Kenya one day later. 

NOTES TO EDITORS:

The Tour d’EAC 2019 is expected to cover 4,300 km around East Africa over a period of 50 days. The aim of the Annual East African Bicycle Tour is to promote the spirit of East Africanness among the people of East Africa, the tourism and business potential of the Community while enhancing awareness about the social and cultural peculiarities of people and places in the EAC.

The ultimate goal of the initiative is to bring the citizens of East Africa to own the integration process as enshrined in the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC. The tour is also one of the activities to mark the Community’s 20th Anniversary.

- ENDS -

For more information, please contact:

Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [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 Sudna, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.

The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001: 2008 Certified

12th Edition of the EAC Military Games underway in Nairobi, Kenya

East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 12th August, 2019: The 12th Edition of the East African Community Military Games and Cultural Event is currently underway at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani in Nairobi, Kenya.

The event which runs from 11th to 26th August, 2019 has drawn 500 sportsmen and sportswomen from the Defence Forces in all the six EAC Partner States, namely: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.

Continue Reading

Germany commits Euros 35 million to EAC for Immunization Programme

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 2nd August, 2019: The Federal Republic of Germany has committed Euro 35 million to East African Community to be invested in vaccination programmes in the Partner States.

Speaking at the EAC headquarters,  Senior Policy Officer from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Ms Claudia Imwolde-Krämer said Germany is contributing Euro 35 million to immunization programmes in the EAC. “I appreciate and acknowledge the EAC’s efforts to immunize every child in the region”.

Continue Reading

ICT4Business Brings Together Rwandese Industry and CENIT@EA to Shape the Digital Transformation

The Centre of Excellence for Information and Communication Technology in East Africa (CENIT@EA) organized the event ICT4Business on 18 July in Kigali, Rwanda. Around 40 participants from the private and public sector discussed their needs and requirements for digitalisation and how CENIT@EA can provide relevant skills, capacities and know-how to the private and public sector to enable them to reap benefits from the digital transformation.

In his opening remarks, Mr Karera, Chairman of the East African Business Council (EABC), emphasized the need for the industry to digitalise and use Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in their business processes. The Principal Information Technology Officer of the East African Community (EAC), Mr Murenzi, pointed out that digital transformation is a priority of the EAC’s 5th Development Strategy. The Senior Systems Officer of the Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA), Mr Ruhinda, added that CENIT@EA is a very important regional initiative providing skills and know-how for the success of the digital transformation. Ms Focken, Cluster Coordinator for EAC, pointed out in her opening remarks that a continuous exchange between industry and academia is crucial for developing needed skills and support the use of technology and innovation in East Africa.

Continue Reading

Student Exchange Programme afoot as EAC marks 20th Anniversary

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 25th July, 2019: The Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA), an institution of the East African Community (EAC), is currently running an advert for the nascent EAC Scholarship Programme.

The advert is basically inviting applications for Master’s degree scholarships tenable at universities in four EAC Partner States, namely Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The advert, which runs from 5th July to 1st August, 2019, was first published in the 6th – 12th July edition of the weekly The East African newspaper. It is also available on the IUCEA website: https://iucea.org/

The number of available scholarships under the programme are 157 under six thematic areas, namely: Mathematics; Engineering; Informatics; Science; Technology, and; Business Science.

The EAC Scholarship Programme is the product of a financing agreement of €5 million signed between the EAC and the Federal Republic of Germany on 9th April, 2018. The scholarship programme is being implemented in cooperation with IUCEA and KfW, the German Development Bank.

The goal of the programme is to promote the integration agenda in East Africa by supporting higher education students. Scholarship beneficiaries will undoubtedly foster awareness about the integration, and spur social change and economic growth.

The programme is designed to support EAC students with academic talent and leadership qualities. In addition to the provision of scholarships, the EAC scholars will be actively facilitated through programme activities such as regional leadership seminars and mentoring schemes.

It is further anticipated that the beneficiaries of the scholarship programme will become highly skilled ‘change agents’ for their home communities as qualified professionals with a strong understanding of regional challenges, approaches and expertise in their subject fields.

The EAC region has a long history of cooperation in education particularly between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, which are the founders of the Community. The EAC is cognizant of the fact that most of its aspirations can only be achieved through high quality and relevant education and training.

Under Article 103(a) of the EAC Treaty, Partner States undertook to promote cooperation in the development of science and technology, which are viewed as the prime movers of regional integration and development. The Community’s objective then is to develop a completely harmonized East African education system for the enhancement of a productive human resource base.

Inherent in a harmonized education system are: the establishment of a common reference to facilitate comparability, compatibility, equation and mutual recognition of education/training systems and qualifications among Partner States. There is also the shared view among Partner States on quality, criteria, standards and learning outcomes; promoting mobility of students and labour to foster integration, and; promotion of the region as a Common Higher Education Area.

The harmonization of education systems and curricula dates way back to the first Community. The EAC had a single examination system and same curricula. The University of East Africa (UEA) had its main campus in Makerere, Kampala, Uganda with affiliate colleges in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi. In the early1970s, UEA split into three independent universities: the University of Dar es Salaam, Makerere University in Uganda, and the University of Nairobi.

The EAC acknowledges that youth traditionally bring energy, drive and passion to any activity they embark on, and the integration process in East Africa is no exception. Added to this is the Community’s view that the youth will be the major beneficiaries of an integrated East Africa which is expected to bring with it various benefits which include, among other things, harmonized fees in institutions of higher learning, increased employment opportunities, better infrastructure, increased trade and investment, and socio-cultural integration. Some of the youth are already reaping these benefits of the integration.

The EA Scholarship Programme is modelled on the Erasmus Programme (EURopean Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students) –an EU student exchange programme that was established in 1987.

Erasmus scholars study at least three months or undertake an internship of at least two months to an academic year in another European country. The programme has an in-built guarantee credit transfer scheme as long as the scholars abide by the terms previously set. A key component of the programme is that students do not pay extra tuition fees to the university that they visit. Scholars are also eligible to apply for an Erasmus grant to cover additional expenses occasioned by studying abroad.

For many EU students, Erasmus is their first time to live and study and abroad in another country. Erasmus has then become a cultural phenomenon and is highly popular among many students in Europe. The programme fosters learning and understanding of the host country.

The EAC on its part is convinced that the scholarship programme will help nurture a pan-East African identity among the youth. A year abroad will enable students to visit EAC Partner States other than the ones in which they were born and demystify any suspicions and mistrusts that could be inherent among citizens of one’s country vis-à-vis other countries. It will be a perfect opportunity for exposure of the youth to various peoples and cultures in East Africa.

As the EAC commemorates its 20th anniversary, it anticipates that the student exchange initiative engendered by the scholarship programme will foster regional integration by giving students a chance to live and learn in Partner States other than their own.

Going forward, the Community’s dream is that support for the scholarship programme will expand to include funding from philanthropists, Partner States’ governments, corporates and charitable foundations.

For more information, please contact:

Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [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. 

The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001:2008 Certified

EAC Secretariat urges Partner States to increase risk and crisis communication measures to keep out Ebola Viral Disease

East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, 22 July 2019:  The confirmation of a fatal Ebola case in the Ituri province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) further increases the risk for the East African Community (EAC) region of the outbreak crossing the borders. The Ituri province is only 70 km from the South Sudanese border and even closer to the Ugandan border. The first three cases of Ebola in the EAC region were diagnosed in Uganda in June 2019 and triggered strong response measures by the Ugandan government. Trade is vibrant between DRC and the EAC region and can exacerbate the spread of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) due to the high mobility of people and goods. In the light of the Public Health Emergency of International Concern declared by the World Health Organization,) Dr Michael Katende, acting Head of Health at the EAC Secretariat urges the Partner States to strongly engage the communities in the border regions and traders and trade associations in risk and crisis communication measures. “This is particularly important, as most of the border line is porous and difficult to control” says Katende, “informal and formal traders need to know the risk and be able to take informed decisions to minimise it and to actively take precautions.”

EAC Partner States have put in place precautionary measures to stop the spread of EVD into the EAC region. This includes vaccinating frontline health workers, screening all travellers at points of entry including airports and training the first responders in case of an outbreak. However, these measures might not be sufficient. Dr Michael Katende, acting Head of Health at the EAC Secretariat was especially concerned about EVD spreading into South Sudan with its still rather weak health system.

The EAC Secretariat calls upon the Partner States to increase risk and crisis communication by involving community, religious and other leaders and the media in public awareness raising. At the same time, the Secretariat calls upon traders and trade associations and those travelling across the border with DRC to take extra precaution, as the EVD threat is real:

  • All people crossing the border should cooperate with immigration, health and security officials who are conducting screening at the points of entry and should strictly follow their advice.
  • Frontline health workers and members of the affected communities should accept to be vaccinated against EVD for their own protection and to help prevent the further spread of EVD.
  • People in the affected regions should avoid unnecessary ‘body to body’ contact as this is the main way of disease transmission.
  • The public should be vigilant and immediately inform the nearest health workers when spot a person with signs of EVD which are: fever, severe headache, body weakness, fatigue, diarrhea, vomiting, and unexplained haemorrhage (bleeding or bruising) from various body outlets like the nose, ears and mouth. This is particularly important along the “green border” where no screening measures are in place.

-ENDS-

Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern

https://www.who.int/news-room/detail/17-07-2019-ebola-outbreak-in-the-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-declared-a-public-health-emergency-of-international-concern

For more information, please contact:

Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [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. 

The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001:2008 Certifie


East African Community
EAC Close
Afrika Mashariki Road
P.O. Box 1096
Arusha
United Republic of Tanzania

Tel: +255 (0)27 216 2100
Fax: +255 (0)27 216 2190
Email: eac@eachq.org  |  sgoffice@eachq.org