Its exactly 10 years since the East African Community(EAC) was revived. Last Friday all roads led to Arusha for the anniversary and Summit.

It has been a long haul for what is billed as the most promising regional grouping on the continent.

The original three (EAC) countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had a long history of co-operation under successive regional integration arrangements.

These included the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda in 1917, which Tanganyika (the current Tanzania) later joined in 1927; the East African High Commission (1948-1961); the East African Common Services Organisation (1961-1967); the East African Community (1967-1977) and the East African Co-operation (1993-2000).

Full East African Co-operation operations started on March 14, 1996 when the Secretariat of the Permanent Tripartite Commission was launched at the Headquarters of the EAC in Arusha.

It is important to note that with the coming in of Burundi and Rwanda, Foreign direct I nvestment (FDI) in the East African Community (EAC) member states has grown significantly from US$ 629 million registered in 2002 to US$ 1.7 billion in 2007.

East Africa has a surface area of 1.82 million square kilometers with a population of over 125 million people, a GDP of $60 billion, per capita of $424 and an average GDP growth of 6.8%. This is a good market for any investment. With good telecoms and internet connectivity, improved infrastructure and one of the best human resource catchment portfolios on the continent, East Africa is the place to be.As the customs union comes into place, the leadership and business community need to harness EAC's achievements, put in place best practices and see the regions become the best place to live and work.