EAC Common Market scorecard falls short of expectations
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Samia Suluhu of Tanzania open the 42.4-km East African Arusha Bypass road in Tanzania on July 22, 2022. Other regional presidents Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Evariste Ndayishimiye (Burundi) and Hassan Mohamud (Somalia) were also present. PHOTO | PSCU
Non-tariff barriers and unharmonised rules and regulations have been the biggest impediments to the full implementation of the 11-year-old Common Market Protocol, stifling trade between partners of the EAC.
Currently, trade between partners is at 20 percent, lower than the expectations of leaders at the time of the launch. EAC members are trading more with countries outside the bloc than partner states, becoming importers of products and services that ideally should be sourced among them.
