The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation composed of seven countries in the Great Lakes region of East Africa:the Democratic Republic of the Congo,the United Republic of Tanzania,the Republics of Kenya,Burundi,Rwanda,South Sudan,and Uganda. Évariste Ndayishimiye,the president of Burundi,is the current EAC chairman. The organisation was founded in 1967,collapsed in 1977,and was revived on 7 July 2000.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa. It includes governments from the Horn of Africa,Nile Valley and the African Great Lakes. It is headquartered in Djibouti.
The Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA),is an institution of the East African Community,which is a regional intergovernmental organisation of the republics of Kenya,Tanzania,Uganda,Burundi,Rwanda and South Sudan. IUCEA aims to foster collaboration between universities in the EAC region. It has its head offices in Kampala,Uganda
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is a sub-organ of the larger East African Community,being the legislative arm of the Community. Members are sworn into five-year terms.
The East African Federation is a proposed political union of the seven sovereign states of the East African Community in the African Great Lakes region –Burundi,the Democratic Republic of the Congo,Kenya,Rwanda,South Sudan,Tanzania and Uganda –as a single federated sovereign state. The idea of this Federation has existed since the early 1960s,but has not yet come to fruition for a variety of reasons. In September 2018,a committee was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution,and a draft constitution for the confederation was set to be written by the end of 2021 with its implementation by 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted plans to draft and implement a constitution. On March 20,2023,the EAC announced that the drafting process would resume in May 2023 in Kenya.
The African Free Trade Zone (AFTZ) is a free trade zone announced at the EAC-SADC-COMESA Summit on 22 October 2008 by the heads of Southern African Development Community (SADC),the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC). The African Free Trade Zone is also referred to as the African Free Trade Area in some official documents and press releases.
The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community in Africa with twenty-one member states stretching from Tunisia to Eswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994,replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in 2000,with Rwanda and Burundi joining the FTA in 2004,the Comoros and Libya in 2006,Seychelles in 2009 and Tunisia and Somalia in 2018.
Richard Sezibera is a Rwandan medical doctor,diplomat and politician,who served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 18 October 2018 until November 4,2019. He replaced Louise Mushikiwabo. He was replaced by Vincent Biruta on November 4,2019.
Margaret Nantongo Zziwa is a Ugandan politician and legislator. She served as the Speaker of the 3rd East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Arusha,Tanzania. She was elected to serve in that capacity in June 2012. She was impeached and voted out of office on 17 December 2014,on the basis of misconduct and abuse of office,but was later awarded compensation for illegal removal.
Fred Mukasa Mbidde is a Ugandan lawyer,human-rights activist,mass communication specialist,motivational speaker and politician. He is an elected member of the 3rd East African Legislative Assembly (EALA),representing the Republic of Uganda. He has been in this office since June 2012. He serves on three EALA committees:the Committee on Communication,Trade and Investments;the Committee on Legal,Rules and Privileges;and the Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution. He is the chairperson of the Committee on Communication,Trade and Investments.
Daniel Fred Kidega is a Ugandan politician and former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly,in office from December 2014 until June 2017. As of August 2020,he served as the chairman of Atiak Sugar Factory,in Amuru District,in which the Uganda government owned 40 percent shareholding.
Ambassador Libérat Mfumukeko is a Burundian diplomat and civil servant. He is currently an IDA / World Bank Borrowers’Representative where he co-chairs the Africa Group 1,and is also a Charge de Missions at the Presidency of the Republic of Burundi. He was the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) from 2 March 2016 to 25 April 2021,replacing Richard Sezibera.
Richard Musani is a Ugandan chartered marketing executive,SME consultant,automotive expert and business columnist. He is the head of marketing for Movit Products Ltd,a personal care company,and former branch manager of Kampala Motors. He joined MPL in 2012 as the brand manager for Movit,a skin care brand,after a three-year and eight-month stint at Kampala Motors. He uses exhibits that have won MPL various trade show awards in the category of Best Exhibitor and was once the Acting President for the students’guild of Kyambogo University.
The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a free trade area encompassing most of Africa. It was established in 2018 by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement,which has 43 parties and another 11 signatories,making it the largest free-trade area by number of member states,after the World Trade Organization,and the largest in population and geographic size,spanning 1.3 billion people across the world's second largest continent.
Countries of the East African Community (EAC) include the Democratic Republic of the Congo,Kenya,Tanzania,Burundi,Uganda,Rwanda,and South Sudan. These nations fall below par in different measures of economic activities such as GDP per capita,population below the poverty line,unemployment,and trade. The East African Community has made an effort to bolster trade through enhancing co-operation economically,socially,and politically within the member nations. "The aim of EAC is to gradually establish among themselves a Customs Union,a Common Market,a Monetary Union,and ultimately a Political Federation of the East African States." East African Community countries also have active trade to other parts of the world,like the European Union. Each country is a part of the World Trade Organization except for South Sudan who remains out of this conglomeration. As of 2014,these six countries have a combined GDP of $159.5 billion,GDP per capita of $918,total population of 168.5 million,total import $40.2 billion,and total export $13.6 billion. These countries become much stronger as a part of the community as they become a larger market for trade outside of the bloc. Also,the bloc allows for free trade between the member countries helping not only producers who have more options to sell their product but also consumers who have more cheap goods. It is always important for fish to be in fresh water lakes
Wamkele Mene is the Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat. In February 2020,he was elected as the first Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
The Energy Regulators Association of East Africa (EREA) is a non-profit organisation mandated to spearhead harmonisation of energy regulatory frameworks,sustainable capacity building and information sharing among the List of energy regulatory bodies in the East African Community. Its key objective is to promote the independence of national regulators and support the establishment of a robust East African energy union.
Geoffrey Aori Mabea is an energy economist and corporate executive and the current Executive Secretaryof the Energy Regulators Association of East Africa. He assumed office in 2020 as the first Executive Secretary of the regional Organisation with the mandate of spearheading establishment of the East African Community Energy Union. Prior to joining EREA,he was a researcher at the University of Dundee. He also served as a capital projects advisor with PwC.
Emile Nguza Arao is a Kenyan Aircraft Maintenance Engineer and corporate executive,who was appointed as the next executive director of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA),effective 22 April 2022. He will be based in Nairobi,Kenya. Before that,from 20 October 2018 until 22 April 2022,he served as the executive director of the East African Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (EAC-Cassoa),based in Entebbe,Uganda.
The 21st EAC Ordinary summit was held between 22 February 2021 to 25 February 2021 virtually. This was the first summit held after the start of COVID-19 pandemic. The summit focused on considering applications of new members along with re-organizing the leadership of the bloc. The leadership of the community was transferred from Paul Kagame of Rwanda to Uhuru Kenyatta or Kenya.
