THE Inter-University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) has once again received a lion's share of cash, as the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) starts tabling and debating the 213bn/-(91,579,215 US dollars) EAC budget estimates this week.
Based in Kampala, IUCEA will pocket 25bn/- (10.9 million US dollars) as it continues to foster collaboration between universities among the seven partner states.
According to budget estimates for the 2022/2023 Financial Year, which was presented by the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers and Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for EAC and Regional Development, Betty Maina here recently, ICUEA leads other EAC institutions with the most disbursement followed by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC), which is set to pocket 19bn/- (8,289,474 US dollars).
The Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (LVFO) whose mandate is to coordinate the management and development of fisheries and aquaculture resources in the EAC region will cash in 6.5bn/- (2,807,083 US dollars), according to the budget estimates.
However, this year's budget is a dip from the amount of 91,784,296 US dollars approved by the August House for the 2021/2022 Financial Year.
She further noted that the budget estimates for the Financial Year 2022/22023 are being presented at a time when the world's economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic is under threat from the rising prices of fuel and other commodities, occasioned by the Russian - Ukrainian conflict.
"Economic growth in the EAC region averaged 5.9 per cent in 2021, compared to an average of 2.3 per cent in 2020. The strong regional economic growth in 2021 was largely supported by increased removal of Covid-19 related restrictions, public investments and strong performance in the productive sectors," she explained.
The Cabinet Secretary noted that the rising commodity prices, especially fuel and food, are impacting negatively on the welfare of East Africans and the world alike.
"Global economic growth is expected to slow down from 6.1 per cent in 2021 to 3.6 per cent in 2022. Economic growth in the EAC region is projected to decline from an average of 5.9 per cent in 2021 to 5.3 per cent in 2022 and 5.7 per cent in 2023," said Ms Maina.
Themed 'Accelerating Economic Recovery and Enhancing Productive Sectors for Improved Livelihoods', Ms Maina said that the EAC would focus on 10 priority areas, namely: Peace and Security; Private Sector Development and Participation; Economic Integration; Improvement of productivity, Value addition and promotion of regional supply chains; EAC Digitalisation Agenda; Health; Implementation of the roadmap of the EAC Monetary Union, Infrastructure Development, and; Institutional strengthening and transformation.
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In the same vein, the chairperson of Council of Ministers highlighted the finalisation of the review of the Common External Tariff (CET), the elimination of twenty-five Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) reported during the year and the harmonisation of over 145 standards for the commonly traded goods in over 16 sectors as some of the milestones the EAC had hit in the 2020/2021 financial year.
On the EAC Single Customs Territory, the Cabinet Secretary disclosed that the next financial year would, among other things; focus on the integration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the Republic of South Sudan into the Customs Union.
