As leaders of the East African Community converged on Arusha to celebrate a silver jubilee of its reincarnation, its shape was barely recognisable.
From the original three founding states with a population that that was barely 15 percent of today’s 300 million, the bloc has, in the past 25 years, expanded its membership to eight states.
Once everyone is settled in another quarter century from now, it will be the first time in the history of this region that a citizen of a member state will be able to travel from the shores of the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean without a visa.
Travel will also probably be over high-speed rail links, all-weather highways, or value for money domestic flights.
A lot is still not right practice askew of promise. Trade barriers persist, infrastructure is still a pain and citizens still have to carry passports to access some member states.
Overall, however, East Africa has made progress and is a much better place to be for social and economic interaction than it has been in a long time.
The challenges cooperation faces today and the frustration that comes with them need to be put in their proper context. They are both historical and contemporary in nature.
Mistrust has always been in our DNA. Even during the nostalgic ‘60s, which are often considered the golden age of post-in dependence cooperation in the region, the founding fathers were not as united or committed as is often portrayed.
Within three years of the last member getting independence, each member had established their own central bank and issued their own currency -- tell-tale signs of what would happen 11 years later. If anything, between them, and rather than be the example, the founding states are the biggest deviators from EAC protocols.
The bloc has not fully recovered from the stab of 1977, but is on the way to healing.
If anything, the fracture of 47 years ago laid the foundations for what would be a more pragmatic and enduring approach to regional cooperation and economic integration today.
Instead of sentimentalism, regional cooperation is now based on what works. Borders work where they can and communal tradition fills the vacuum where they are absent. Variable geometry allows member states to onboard at their own pace, after testing the benefits.
There are important lessons to draw from as leaders craft the agenda for the next 25 years. The current deficits to integration are not fundamentally different from what preceded the breakup. A preoccupation with the short-term losses and gains often obscures the big picture.
But the picture is there and real, whatever one thinks. The region’s leaders need to strike a balance – trade the short-term costs for the long-term benefits.
In the interim, integration needs facilitation. Member states need to meet their minimum obligations by paying their contributions. Tackling crises and securing the region demands that wealth is created and multiplied through open markets open to all that are entitled. Above all is the conviction that it is doable.
