Skip to main content

The East African Community Common Market

Is forging a common economic platform encouraging productivity at the cost of employability?

The five East African Community (EAC) countries - Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania – ushered in a common market as of July 1st, 2010, a project that has been expanded from the existing customs union.

A common market is built in hopes of creating free movement of goods, services, capital, and people within the constituent states as one region. As seen with other economic integrations such as the European Union, a common market is the precursor to a common currency, which in turn is a significant prerequisite to a common political platform.

The good news is that the EAC stands to become more competitive on the international stage. Its combined Gross Domestic Product is about $75 billion, which is just under a quarter of South Africa’s GDP, and trade with neighbors like Sudan, Congo, and Ethiopia will be easier with a consolidated market. While local businesses have already had an advantage with the internal customs union, multinationals will pounce on the opportunity to sell to a now 120-million strong market.

The bad news is that each of the EAC countries will find the need to be more competitive on an individual basis too. Kenya, with a better-skilled and –educated workforce, stands to benefit most, while neighboring Tanzania fears that many of its people will be unemployed soon.

What does all this mean for us young folks? It could mean that in the short term, many youth who are working may lose their jobs. But it could also mean that they find opportunities elsewhere in the EAC to diversify and expand their experience, either with school, or work. The situation is no different for young entrepreneurs; while the scope of their market has just broadened, providing them with the opportunity to make more money, the scope of their competition has also grown.

How can sustainable partnerships be created in the EAC common market such that governments and businesses improve on peoples’ livelihoods? Further, how can these partnerships ensure stability when the time comes for a monetary union… and then a political union?

Related links:
(Posted on Vijana FM on Thursday August 5, 2010)
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Serving up the fix

Originally published on Vijana FM | 22nd July 2012 On a recent album release by Nas called Life is Good , Anthony Hamilton sings “The world is an addiction / serving up a fix”. The track goes on to discuss the dangers of selling out in pursuit of irrational dreams; indeed, “you gain your life just to lose your soul”. Sometimes I wonder if Tanzania is losing her soul. Perhaps – as time passes – it is me growing more conscious, or media becoming more pervasive to drama. But it seems like this country is chasing grandeur that is alien to her history and at odds with what she needs today. Her history and her needs; what do these mean? For the purpose of this post, I am pointing to Tanzania’s historical pursuit to be an independent nation-state, free of international dues and reliance on help. I am also referring to her current state of affairs, mainly consisting of an inefficient system of education coupled with an unbalanced system of trade. There are a few example...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tanzania is not Tasmania

Dear friends: Please let's stop refering to Tanzania as Tasmania. Here is why. Tanzania is located on the coast of East Africa, below Kenya. It is not origin of the the cartoon character from your childhood. Tasmania is an island which is part of Australia. The animal known to exist only on Tasmania is the Tasmanian Devil. Once again, you will see this is not the cartoon character you remember from your childhood. Let's summarize: Tanzania is not Tasmania.
Post a Comment
Read more

Thoughts about Egypt

The city I was just in about 6 months ago - which owns more than a million years of human history - is now hearing a desperate, angry, and fearless roar of reform from its people, whose voice is reverberating across several Arabic-speaking countries. Egypt is an extremely valuable player on the global playing field. It's ancestors are known to have built one of the first far-reaching ordered civilizations the world has known. Medieval Egypt significantly advanced scholarship in the sciences and philosophy. In contemporary times, it has been looked at as a model of modernization amongst Arab states. Even more recently, Egypt has provided strong support in brokering peace in the Middle East, and negotiating as well as facilitating the transfer of resources from and to the Western world. The people of Egypt, therefore, have witnessed many, many changes in leadership. Moreover, they have experienced diversity in the most deepest historical aspect of the word. Surely, a people with s...
Post a Comment
Read more