East African Community

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East African Community
East African Community (Engl.)
Jumuiya ya Afrika ya Mashariki (swah.)
EAC

Flag of the East African Community

Members of the East African Community
English name East African Community
Organization type Regional cooperation
Seat of the organs Arusha ( Tanzania )
Secretary General Libérat Mfumukeko
Member States
Official and working languages

English , Swahili

surface 2,464,995 km²
population 170.9 million (2014, including South Sudan)
Population density 69.3 inhabitants per km²
gross domestic product 147.5 billion US $
(estimate, 2015)
Gross domestic product per inhabitant 1017 US $
(estimate, 2015)
founding

July 7, 2000
(newly founded)

Currencies
Time zone UTC + 2 to UTC + 3
eac.int
Rwanda's President Kagame at the 2006 EAC Summit

The East African Community (Engl. East African Community , EAC) is an intergovernmental organization established in 2000 by Kenya , Uganda and Tanzania was founded and, since 2007, Burundi and Rwanda and, since 2016, the South Sudan belong.

General

The secretariat is based in Arusha (Tanzania). The EAC aims to expand and deepen economic , political, social and cultural cooperation . By creating a customs union , a common market and a common currency, a federal state should emerge in the long term . The joint institutions include the East African Court of Justice to monitor the treaties and the East African Legislative Assembly as a democratically legitimized control body. Member States need to adapt their national laws to allow the full implementation of some aspects of the common market, such as immigration and customs authorities.

history

  • On June 6, 1967, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had already signed a treaty on an East African Economic Community and Common Market (EAC) in Kampala . The treaty came into force on December 1, 1967. In addition to the establishment of a common market (EACM), the promotion of Swahili , which is widespread in all three countries, was sought as an alternative to the English left by the colonial rulers as the lingua franca . A new association agreement between the EAC and the European Economic Community (EEC) came into force on December 21, 1970.
  • In 1977 the community broke up due to interstate differences and mutual interference. In 1984 the former member states signed a negotiated mediation agreement on asset and liability transfers.
  • The subsequent summit meetings of the heads of state of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda led to the signing of an agreement on November 30, 1993 on the establishment of a Permanent Tripartite Commission for East African Co-operation. On March 14, 1996, the full East African cooperation began with the opening of the secretariat of the Standing Tripartite Commission at the headquarters of the EAC in Arusha, Tanzania. At the second summit on April 29, 1997, the tripartite commission was commissioned to bring them together in a new contractual community.
  • The Treaty establishing the East African Community was signed in Arusha on November 30, 1999 and entered into force on July 7, 2000.
  • On January 1, 2005, a protocol regarding a customs union with a common external tariff came into force. Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are also members of COMESA , while Tanzania is a member of SADC . What the five states have in common is their membership in the African Union . Tanzania was also a member of COMESA, but left it to avoid overlapping with SADC. Both regional groupings are aiming for customs unions. Since the member states cannot agree on the sharing of customs revenues and belong to different regional organizations, internal border controls and customs formalities continued until 2010. A transitional arrangement (a gradual reduction in tariffs by 2010) also applied to the exports of a number of Kenyan products to Tanzania and Uganda.
  • On July 1, 2007, Burundi and Rwanda will also join the East African Community.
  • On July 1, 2010, a protocol on the creation of a common market, an extension of the existing customs union, which entered into force in 2005, came into force. The protocol ensures the free movement of labor, capital, goods and services within the East African Community.
  • Since April 26, 2016, Libérat Mfumukeko from Burundi has been the new General Secretary of the Community. His predecessors were Francis Muthaura (Kenya) 2000-2001 , Amanya Mushega (Uganda) 2001-2006, Juma Mwapachu (Tanzania) 2006-2011 and Richard Sezibera (Rwanda) 2011-2016.
  • On March 2, 2016, the head of state of South Sudan attended the 17th Summit of Heads of State of the East African Community. On September 5, 2016, South Sudan became a full member of the East African Community.
  • In September 2018, a committee of experts was formed to draft a constitution for a potential confederation ( East African Federation ) of member states. A first draft should be available in 2021.

Members

Key figures

Some data from 2013 (economic data) and 2014 (population and human development index) are listed below:

Member State Population (million) Area (km²) GDP
per capita 		Government
debt
ratio 		Labor
losen-
quote 		corruption
Human
Development Index
(2014)
BurundiBurundi Burundi 10.70 27,834 US $ 303 32 - 21st 0.400
KenyaKenya Kenya 44.30 580.367 US $ 1,016 50 40.0% 27 0.548
RwandaRwanda Rwanda 11.30 26,338 US $ 698 29 - 53 0.483
South SudanSouth Sudan South Sudan 12.20 644,329 US $ 1,262 13 - 14th 0.467
TanzaniaTanzania Tanzania 52.30 945.087 US $ 703 41 - 33 0.521
UgandaUganda Uganda 40.10 241.040 US $ 626 34 - 26th 0.483

Membership applications

  • The Sudan in 2011 presented a membership application, which was rejected at the instigation of Tanzania and Uganda because the country does not respect the human rights and also - not bordered on the EAC countries - before the accession of South Sudan.SudanSudan 
  • Even Somalia applied for membership in February 2012 found. In December 2012 the EAC decided to postpone the processing of the application.SomaliaSomalia 

Evaluation and criticism

The founding of the East African Community is often described as a meeting of different motives: Kenya wanted to strengthen its export economy, Uganda wanted the free movement of people to employ its workers, and Tanzania wanted to realize its pan-African visions. The historical possibility of the politicians involved to stage themselves as statesmen and the possibility of rewarding political loyalty through posts in the EAC institutions are cited as possible common motives. The collapse of the customs and currency union in the 1970s was still perceived by the elites of the member states around 30 years later as a loss, so the historical symbolism of a new union is important. Outside the elite and especially among the younger population, however, there is a predominance of ignorance about the integration process, and the actual commitment to gradual integration is more symbolic than tangible. The main achievements of the East African Community include the simplified border crossing and immigration process as well as free student visas to study in the other member states, as well as the common tourist visa for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda. Processes have also been successfully harmonized with regard to fiscal policy - such as banking regulations and the presentation of the state budget on the same day. The role of Kenya, which according to some observers benefits disproportionately from the community, and the lack of mediating role of the EAC in conflicts between member states are viewed critically. In the context of the closure of the border between Rwanda and Uganda in 2019, the mechanisms for resolving conflicts were described as inadequate insofar as the presidents and ministers of the member states have to approve any plans of the EAC Secretary General and can therefore block them. A political conflict between Rwanda's President Paul Kagame and Tanzania's President Jakaya Kikwete only ended in 2013 when the latter's term of office ended.

The opinion research project Afrobarometer found in 2014/15 that around 40% of Ugandans think that the EAC is helping their country. These values ​​are practically identical in Burundi - in both countries around 38% also state that they do not know an answer to the question. 43% of Tanzanians perceived the EAC as positive for their country, 29% perceived it negatively. Around 45% of the EAC is also perceived positively in Kenya, but here the negative perception is highest at 35% of all participating countries. While in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda around two thirds of those questioned supported the free movement of people and goods and only around 20% opposed it, in Tanzania a more mixed picture can be found with only 46% agree and 39% reject it. In Uganda and Burundi, half of the respondents also stated that it is currently difficult to cross borders and work in another country.

See also

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Population in mid-2014 - country database ( memento of the original from March 9, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / laenderdatenbank.weltbevoelkerung.de
  2. ↑ List of countries according to gross domestic product
  3. ↑ bmz.de , accessed on December 26, 2014
  4. ↑ heute.de of December 1, 2013
  5. ↑ Sella Oneko: East African Community admits South Sudan, Burundi snubs. In: dw.com, March 2, 2016. Retrieved March 9, 2016.
  6. ↑ Moses Havyarimana: Ready for a United States of East Africa? The wheels are already turning. September 30, 2018, accessed April 3, 2019 .
  7. ↑ List of countries by gross domestic product per capita
  8. ↑ List of countries by government debt ratio
  9. ^ CIA World Fact Book
  10. ↑ Transparency International - Corruption 2013 , accessed December 26, 2014
  11. ↑ United Nations Development Program (UNDP): Human Development Report 2015 . Ed .: German Society for the United Nations e. V. Berliner Wissenschafts-Verlag, Berlin ( undp.org [PDF; 9.3 MB ; accessed on November 1, 2016]). Page 3.
  12. ^ Sudan's bid to join EAC rejected as South Sudan's deferred , in: Sudan Tribune, December 1, 2011
  13. ^ East African body rejects S. Sudan, Somalia membership bids , in: Sudan Tribune, December 4, 2012
  14. ↑ David Booth, Diana Cammack, Thomas Kibua and Josaphat Kwek: East African integration: How can it contribute to East African development? Ed .: Overseas Development Institute. 2007 (English, odi.org [PDF]).
  15. ↑ Reuben Simukoko: Successes and Failures of the East African Community. Retrieved April 4, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Dicta Asiimwe: Crises in the region: Is the EAC Secretariat a toothless watchdog? March 17, 2019, accessed April 4, 2019 .
  17. ^ The online data analysis tool. Afrobarometer, accessed April 4, 2019 .
  18. ↑ Afrobarometer results 2014/15 for Uganda , Tanzania