East African Community

The East African Community (EAC) is a trading bloc in East Africa, consisting of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It was founded in January 2001 at a ceremony held in Arusha, reviving an earlier effort abandoned in 1977. This new EAC treaty paved the way for an economic and, ultimately, political union of the three countries. A further treaty signed in March 2004 set up a customs union, which commenced on January 1 2005. Under the terms of the treaty, Kenya, the richest of the three countries, will pay duty on its goods entering Uganda and Tanzania until 2010. A common system of tariffs will apply to other countries supplying the three countries with goods.

Related Topics:
Trading bloc - East Africa - Kenya - Uganda - Tanzania - January - 2001 - Arusha - 1977 - March - 2004 - Customs union - January 1 - 2005 - Tariff

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The reinvigorated East African Community (EAC) articulates itself as based on the principles of good governance deemed to include adherence to democratic principles, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice, equal opportunities, gender equality and most pertinently in this context, “recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights” (ACHPR).

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The East African Community was revived on November 30 1999, when the Treaty for its re-establishment was signed. It came into force on 7 July 2000, twenty-three years after the total collapse of the defunct erstwhile Community and its organs. This followed a process of re-integration which was embarked on in 1993, involving tripartite programmes of co-operation in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defence, security, legal and judicial affairs.

Related Topics:
November 30 - 1999 - 7 July - 2000

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When the EAC collapsed, the three Member States, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, lost over sixty years of cooperation and the benefits of economies of scale. Each of the former Member States had to embark, at great expense and at lower efficiency, upon the establishment of services and industries that had previously been provided at the Community level.

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The EAC made such political and economic sense that it was inevitable that its revival would be touted once the political climate in the region stabilized. It was no surprise, therefore, when Presidents, Moi of Kenya, Mwinyi of Tanzania, and Museveni of Uganda signed the Treaty for East African Co-operation in Arusha, Tanzania on November 30 1993, and established a Tri-partite Commission for Cooperation.

Related Topics:
November 30 - 1993

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Rwanda is set to join the EAC in November 2005; Burundi has also applied to join. There are plans to introduce a common currency, the East African shilling, by 2009.

Related Topics:
Rwanda - 2005 - Burundi - East African shilling - 2009

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