Embracing Intra-African Trade Has Accelerated East Africa's Economic Growth
Why is East Africa's Growth Number One in Africa?
Yesterday, I came across an article by the Institute for Security Studies examining why East Africa is growing but Southern Africa is being left behind.
Apparently, as per the 2023 Economic Outlook report by the African Development Bank, East Africa is the best regional performer, while Southern Africa is the worst. This is despite the fact that 69% of Southern African economies are middle-income while East Africa only has 38%.
It got me thinking about the role intra-region and intra-African trade has played in accelerating growth in East Africa
Despite all the brotherly and sisterly squabbling that occurs—at the moment, rumor has it that Kenya has ‘hijacked’ Tanzania’s oil deals with three countries—all East African countries are fully committed to trading more within Africa than outside Africa.
To underscore this commitment:
East Africa Has Created and Promoted the Buy East Africa, Build East Africa Strategy
This is a strategy that seeks to see East African countries increase production of manufactured goods so that they can buy and sell more from each other. The idea is to create an environment where East Africans buy more made-in East-Africa products than made-in-China or any other region.
While there is still no progress report on the Buy East Africa, Build East Africa approach, we saw last week that East Africa trades more with its African peers than with the rest of the world.
East Africa Has Invested Heavily in Infrastructure Linking East African Countries to Each Other
Within the past ten years or so, the East African Community Secretariat has developed and coordinated six transport projects to facilitate linkage in the region.
Kenya/Tanzania: Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road project. Launched in 2012 by EAC heads of State, the 240km road project has cut travel time from Nairobi to Arusha from 5 to 3 hours.
The project also led to the construction of the Namanga One Stop Border Post, which has reduced delays at the border and facilitated a smooth movement of goods and people.
I have been to Arusha twice now, and I can confirm that the road is impeccable, and the process at the border will, at most, take you 20 minutes. Amazing huh?
Kenya/Tanzania: Arusha-Holili-Taveta-Voi road project. This is a 260km project linking Kenya to Tanzania via the Mombasa Port. The Kenyan component was completed in 2017, and the Tanzanian section was completed in 2019.
Again, the project included the construction of a One Stop Border Post at Holili/Taveta, which is already operational.
Kenya/Tanzania: Malindi-Lunga Lunga and Tanga-Bagamoyo road project. This is a 400km road that will run along the coast. The goal is to spur the tourism and horticultural potential on the East African coastline.
The EAC Secretariat announced that the African Development Bank and a grant from the European Union would fund the project. In December 2023, the Secretariat announced that the road would be completed by 2024.
Tanzania/Rwanda: Lusahunga – Rusumo & Kayonza – Kigali road project. The project is incomplete but ongoing. When complete, it will link Tanzania and Kigali.
Tanzania/Burundi: Nyakanazi – Kasulu – Manyovu & Rumonge – Rutunga – Bujumbura Road. Also not complete but ongoing. The African Development Bank is funding the project.
Uganda/Tanzania: Masaka-Mutukula-Kyaka & Bugene-Kasulo-Kumunazi road project. The project commenced in early 2021, and in September 2022, Eng. Mlote (EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure) confirmed the project was ongoing.
As of 2024, there is still no update on the completion status by the EAC Secretariat.
East Africa is at the Forefront of Implementing the African Continental Free Trade Area
Three East African Countries (Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania) were part of the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative (GTI). The other participating countries were Cameroon, Ghana, Egypt, and Mauritius.
The initiative is an attempt by the AfCFTA Secretariat to initiate meaningful trade under the AfCFTA. The Secretariat chose these seven countries because they had fully approved and published their tariff offers.
Other African countries are still negotiating and some are yet to publish.
Beyond the GTI, the East African Community, especially under the East African Business Council (EABC), has launched countless projects to drive AfCFTA awareness.
For example, the Independent Continental Youth Advisory Council on AfCFTA (ICOYACA) was a project launched in collaboration with YouLead Africa—a joint initiative of the East African Community and  MS Training Center for Development Cooperation (MSTDC).
ICOYACA now has chapters in all African countries, and they are doing an incredible job of driving awareness.
More recently, H.E. Albert M. Muchanga, Commissioner for Economic Development, Trade, Industry, and Mining at the African Union, launched the African Youth Business Council (AfYBC) during the YouLead Africa Summit 2022.
The mission of AfYBC is:
To become the leading youth-led continental private sector organization that advocates for youth-friendly economic and trade policies and to make the AfCFTA work for youth-led businesses.
Final Word
Trade in the East Africa region is not perfect. The ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a stain on the entire region, and the whispers that Rwanda might be involved is too sickening a notion to entertain.
Border closures between DRC Rwanda and Burundi that keep cropping up prove that there is a lot yet to be done.
Still,
Public policy is a study in imperfection. It involves imperfect people with imperfect information, facing deeply imperfect choices - so it's not surprising that they're getting imperfect results.
Jake Sullivan
It is this imperfection that will form the building blocks of a region that manufactures more than it imports. Hopefully, all the other regions (ECOWAS, SADC, AMU & ECCAS) will also start their imperfect journey to a more integrated continent that trades more with each other.
The Institute for Security Studies article acknowledged that one of the key policy decisions that has driven economic growth in East Africa is prioritizing trade and connectivity within the region.
P.S
Africa has 8 Regional Economic Communities
East African Community (EAC)
Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS)
Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
Arab Maghreb Union (AMU)
Southern African Developmental Community (SADC)
Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
Thank you for reading Africa: Not an Afterthought. We lead the conversation on how to leverage technology, trade (AfCFTA), regional integration and PanAfricanism to build a continent that is not an Afterthought.
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Beautiful well rehearsed article. Kudos