Informal sector organisations say they have started the second round of East African integration before their governments and want to be credited and honoured today for that during the 10th EAC anniversary celebrations.

As part of the celebrations, the regional heads of state will award trophies to winners of the anniversary football competition and give cash and certificates to winners of an essay competition.

However, none of the 100 Jua Kali-Nguvu Kazi exhibitors showcasing their wares, innovations and technology here or the organisations representing them is expected to climb onto the podium to be honoured for their roles in spearheading the EAC endeavour.

The project manager of the EAC Jua Kali-Nguvu Kazi Exhibitions, Mr Richard Muteti, said that while the official EAC integration process was 10 years old today, the exhibitions were being held for the 11th time.

Mr Muteti, who is also the director of the Confederation of Informal Sector Organisations - East Africa, said the exhibitions started in 1998, and became part of the EAC the following year.

"A year before the second EAC Treaty was signed in this stadium in 1999, we had already begun organising these exhibitions that brought together micro and small enterprises (MSEs) from Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania," he said in an interview with The Citizen at the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium.

"The EAC saw our relevance in the integration process and the exhibitions were officially recognised and formally launched by the heads of state of the initial members of the community during the signing of the treaty," he added.

Mr Muteti said that made them a key partner and player in the integration efforts, which justified the need for the MSEs to be honoured today.

Furthermore, he noted, the sector, which comprises about 25 million people, played a pivotal role in the lives East Africans and national economies.

"It is unfortunate that MSEs are sidelined and have been neglected by all the five governments during the last 10 years,"he said noting that staging of the EAC Jua Kali-Nguvu Kazi Exhibition during EAC's annual celebrations was not enough for the sector.

"Our leaders and governments should recognise our role by also adequately addressing the many challenges we face such as lack of access to affordable credit, appropriate training, work sites and ready markets," he pointed out.

One of them, Mr Ramadhan Sigareti, who is the chairman of the Morogoro Food Processors Cluster, said that while integration would expand their markets, they faced many problems, which inhibited their competitiveness.

Food processor Salama Uisso, also of Morogoro, said the major operational constraints for MSEs in Tanzania were packaging materials and product labelling.