Private sector demands larger role in EAC talks

By John Oyuke

The East Africa Community (EAC) private sector is pushing for increased participation in the ongoing regional integration process.

The East Africa Business Council (EABC), the apex body of business associations in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, has said it wants to play a key role in the trade negotiations since it is the first to be affected by the outcomes.

"There is urgent need to involve the EABC deeper in the integration process as an organ or institution of the Community beyond the ‘Observer’ status it has occupied since 1996 in the EAC," EABC Vice Chairman Mr Keli Kiilu said. He asked the five East African governments to strengthen the role of the private sector and East African Community institutions in fast-tracking integration of the East African region.

He said the role of the private sector should become more pronounced and deeper entrenched in the ongoing consolidation of the Customs Union and establishment of the Common Market.

Moreover, Kiilu argues that the lesson so far learnt from the current global financial crisis is for placing the private sector at the forefront of the regional integration process.

"There should be more communications flow between EAC and EABC and harmonisation of their operations, work culture, ethics and vision in the EAC," he said.

Non-tariff barriers

Kiilu was giving a policy brief to EABC members after attending the ‘Retreat for Organs and Institutions of the EAC’ organised by the current EAC Chairman and President of Rwanda Paul Kagame, which was held in Kigali recently. Kiilu, who represented EABC at the meeting, highlighted the need for the private sector to be actively involved in the policy formulation and the legislative process of EAC integration.

"The outcomes of the Business Climate Index survey, already launched in the region, demonstrates the frustrations the private sector goes through in non-tariff barriers, movement of labour, and lack of mainstreaming of decisions made at the EAC in partner states regulatory framework, " he said.

Kiilu said while EABC was formed to champion the role of private sector in the integration process, the current observer status at EAC negotiations does not reflect the role for which it was created.