By MOSES HAVYARIMANA

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The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed a bill for the establishment of the East African Financial Services Commission as an institution of the community.

“This is one of the legacy bills this House has passed. It’s a bill that touches directly on a pillar of our integration. Therefore, we hope that the remaining step to assent by the heads of state will not be delayed,” said the EALA Speaker Martin Ngoga after the bill was passed.

East African Financial Services Commission Bill 2022 aims to establish the East African Financial Services Commission, pursuant to Article 21(a) of the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Monetary Union, to provide for the functions of governance, funding and headquarters of the commission.

Promote integration

The objectives of the commission will be to promote integration of the financial systems in the EAC and to promote the harmonisation of supervisory and regulatory practices for the non-bank financial sector.

“In the banking sector, the community agreed to establish the central bank to perform the function of a central bank including prudential supervision of the banking sector,” said Burundi EAC minister Ezekiel Nibigira, who is the chairperson of the council of ministers.

Since the signing of the Monetary Union protocol by the EAC heads of state nine years ago, the union is yet to be put in place and the regional technocrats have proposed the extension of the deadline for the implementation of the protocol until 2031.

Initially, the EAC Monetary Union that was signed in November 2013, set the deadline for 2024.

The Monetary Union is the third pillar of the East African Community integration process after the Customs Union and the Common Market Protocol.