Welcome Rwanda, Burundi to the EAC
Jun 17, 2007
RWANDA and Burundi officially join the East African Community today. Their admission has been pending for years mainly because they had not met some benchmarks set by the partner states. The immediate benefits include an expanded market of over 100 million people and easing of travel restrictions fo
RWANDA and Burundi officially join the East African Community today. Their admission has been pending for years mainly because they had not met some benchmarks set by the partner states. The immediate benefits include an expanded market of over 100 million people and easing of travel restrictions for the East Africans.
The integration will also free movement of labour and capital and promote tourism.
Security in the region will also improve through sharing of intelligence information. On the diplomatic front there will be amicable settlement of disputes among member states.
The two countries join the community after a series of agreements have been signed including the Customs Union.
One advantage of the Customs Union is that the movement of goods across borders of member states will be duty-free subject to certain rules. Besides, when imports from non-member states enter any part of the Customs Union they are taxed once and uniformly.
With an expanded membership, the region will also be able to negotiate as a bloc.
However, our leaders must avoid the shortcomings of the earlier integration as much as possible. The community was dissolved in 1977 mainly because of differences among the leaders and economic imbalance of member states.
For political stability in the region, the leaders need to address the ethnic tensions which still exist in Rwanda and Burundi.
To strike a consensus on the proposed political federation, aggressive campaigns should be launched in the two countries.
However, the biggest challenge to the integration is funding, which partner states must fully commit themselves to. Another thorny issue is the multiple memberships to different regional groupings.
Uganda and Kenya are Common Market Eastern and Southern Africa members, while Tanzania belongs to the Southern Africa Development Community. Both the East African Custom Union and the World Trade Organisation rules prohibit countries from joining multiple customs unions. But the EAC can join as a bloc.
East Africans want to see their lives improve. The fight against poverty and good governance should be the supreme goals of the integration.
The integration will also free movement of labour and capital and promote tourism.
Security in the region will also improve through sharing of intelligence information. On the diplomatic front there will be amicable settlement of disputes among member states.
The two countries join the community after a series of agreements have been signed including the Customs Union.
One advantage of the Customs Union is that the movement of goods across borders of member states will be duty-free subject to certain rules. Besides, when imports from non-member states enter any part of the Customs Union they are taxed once and uniformly.
With an expanded membership, the region will also be able to negotiate as a bloc.
However, our leaders must avoid the shortcomings of the earlier integration as much as possible. The community was dissolved in 1977 mainly because of differences among the leaders and economic imbalance of member states.
For political stability in the region, the leaders need to address the ethnic tensions which still exist in Rwanda and Burundi.
To strike a consensus on the proposed political federation, aggressive campaigns should be launched in the two countries.
However, the biggest challenge to the integration is funding, which partner states must fully commit themselves to. Another thorny issue is the multiple memberships to different regional groupings.
Uganda and Kenya are Common Market Eastern and Southern Africa members, while Tanzania belongs to the Southern Africa Development Community. Both the East African Custom Union and the World Trade Organisation rules prohibit countries from joining multiple customs unions. But the EAC can join as a bloc.
East Africans want to see their lives improve. The fight against poverty and good governance should be the supreme goals of the integration.