TradeInvest Africa (Cape Town)

East Africa: Common Market Now a Reality

23 November 2009

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The Common Market Protocol in the East African Community (EAC) is now a reality. Heads of partner states signed it on Friday in Tanzania amid renewed commitment to quicken the proposed political federation by 2015.

The protocol will open the borders of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi to allow free movement of people, goods, services and capital. It also gives citizens the right of establishment and residence.

The signing coincided with the bloc's 10th anniversary celebrations, and the heads of states promised to expedite the protocol's ratification at the national level by the scheduled July 1, 2010 date.

Also in the offing is the launch of a grand free trade area from Cape Town to Cairo, bringing together the EAC, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), that will remove trade borders among 26 African countries.

Tagged: Business, East Africa, Investment, Trade

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