MINISTER for Community Development, Gender, Women, and Special Groups, Dr Dorothy Gwajima, has called upon citizens in the East African Community member states to turn challenges into opportunities to promote economic growth of the regional bloc.
She said that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has many opportunities, and civil society organisations should be sensitised through a well-developed strategy that will reach different groups in the society including women and youths in rural areas.
Dr Gwajima made the remark on Friday at the conclusion of the East African Civil Society Summit organised by the East African Business Council that was held in Arusha.
The theme of the summit was "Harnessing EAC Citizens' Potential in the Regional Integration Process." The East African Civil Society Summit provided a space for discussions on different thematic areas such as trade and investment, health, agriculture development, climate change, gender, and youths.
Dr Dorothy Gwajima applauded the East African Civil Society Organisation's Forum (EACSOF) Secretariat for successfully organising the summit.
The Summit held different panel sessions on the level of the EAC integration process, its obstacles and recommendations to ensure the EAC integration pillars are fully achieved.
For his part, the East African Business Council (EABC) Chief Executive Officer, John Bosco Kalisa, said there are three components of the integration agenda, which are people-centered, prosperity, and stability.
He said the Forum is a platform that has enabled people's voices to be heard and that AfCFTA is a game changer with many opportunities for the African continent.
"The AfCFTA Agreement has stepped up to ensure full inclusion of women and youths, who are key components of SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises)." "The East African Business Council has sensitised more than 300 companies on the AfCFTA initiative," he said.
Mr Kalisa also applauded the EAC partner states that have been selected in the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative and directed the private sector to trade by ensuring there is diversification of products.
He further encouraged women and youth entrepreneurs to utilise the digital tools available to take part in regional and continental trade and called for capacity building, sharing of information, and the elimination of value added tax (VAT) in digital tools and platforms to empower women and youths to engage in cross-border trade.
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On the other hand, the Principal Trade Officer, International Trade EAC Secretariat, Ms Angelique Umulisa, said that Regional Economic Communities (RECs) are the building blocks of AfCFTA, as all partner states have been involved in the negotiations of all the AfCFTA protocols, and the schedule of tariffs has already been adopted by the Heads of State.
Similarly, she urged that EAC has been proactive in all the AfCFTA engagement processes, and it's time that partner states selected under the Trade Guided Initiative commence trading.
The East African Civil Society Organisations Forum (EACS0F) is among the most varied and active regional CSO platforms on the African continent.
EACSOF makes it possible for organisations to connect and work together to represent the voice of the citizens of the East Africa region. This supports the aspirations of the East African community and makes the achievement of progress and solidarity realistic for the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) of the region.
