OBBO: East Africa won a lottery, and is blowing it in casinos
Trucks on the Kenyan side of the Kenya-Uganda border at Busia in a past photo. Historically, the Kenya-Uganda border points at Busia and Malaba have been marked by excruciatingly long delays, especially for trucks carrying goods across the borders. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
We have heard the stories, intra-Africa trade is pitiful; around 17 per cent, which is dismal compared with Europe’s 69 per cent, Asia’s 59 per cent, and North America’s 31 per cent.
But, as the good old African proverb says, there is always a winner even in a monkey's beauty contest. When you break it down to intra-regional trade, the East African Community is the beauty queen. Intra-EAC trade is the highest among all the regional economic blocs, above 20 per cent. This is far higher than the continental average of 11.9 per cent.
