- Sputnik International, 1920
Africa
Get the latest Africa news from Sputnik: breaking news, photos, videos, analysis, and features.

EAC Single Currency Can be Achieved in Three or Four Years - Secretary General

© AFP 2023 / TCHANDROU NITANGAPeter Mathuki the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) reads the press release after Former president of Kenya and East African Community (EAC) facilitator on the peace process in the Eastern region of the Democtratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uhuru Kenyatta (not seen), and the President of Burundi and Chairperson of the EAC Heads of State, Evariste Ndayishimiye (not seen), met after a consultation on the current security situation in eastern DRC, in Bujumbura on November 4, 2022
Peter Mathuki the Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) reads the press release after Former president of Kenya and East African Community (EAC) facilitator on the peace process in the Eastern region of the Democtratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uhuru Kenyatta (not seen), and the President of Burundi and Chairperson of the EAC Heads of State, Evariste Ndayishimiye (not seen), met after a consultation on the current security situation in eastern DRC, in Bujumbura on November 4, 2022 - Sputnik International, 1920, 14.01.2023
Subscribe
Besides economic cooperation and integration, the East African Community is involved in stabilization efforts in the region. For instance, it is playing a key role in organizing the peace process in DR Congo, which has been troubled by recurring conflict since the 1990s.
A single currency for the East African Community (EAC) can be achieved within the next three or four years, Peter Mathuki, the bloc’s secretary general, has reportedly said.

"This year will are going to finalize where we will have the East Africa Monetary institute – the constitution that will create a roadmap for having one currency. Hopefully in the next 3-4 years will have a common currency," the official said.

The initial deadline for the project was 2024, but a technical working group later said that it should be moved to 2031. According to the secretary general's latest statements, the plan could be implemented sooner than expected.
"The single currency will ease business and movement of persons within the region. It is in line with our goal to make the region borderless so that people can move and trade freely as envisioned in the Common Market Protocol," Mathuki pointed out.
The Common Market Protocol has been in force since 2010 with the goal of creation of the common currency, and, in eventually, a full political federation.
Mathuki also stressed the positive trends in the development of intra-bloc trade, noting that the value of trade between member states reached $9.5 billion in 2022, compared to the 2019 figure of $7.1 billion.
Traffic flows past the area where an iconic, century-old fig tree is placed after a presidential declaration was issued to save the centenary tree from being cut down to make way for a Chinese-funded highway in Westlands district of Nairobi, Kenya on November 12, 2020. - Sputnik International, 1920, 30.12.2022
Africa
Development, Innovation & Economy: How Far Has Africa Progressed in 2022?
It has also been reported that the EAC is sending a delegation to Somalia in connection with the country’s intention to join the bloc. Representatives of the Horn of Africa nation applied for Somalia's membership in the community in March 2012.
According to Mathuki, Somalia's entry to the organization could be of great value for the EAC.
"The exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish and the expansive coastline is also set to boost the regional economy," he noted.
East African nations have a long history of close cooperation. One of the successive regional organizations, the EAC was created in 1967 and was active before its dissolution in 1977. The bloc was reestablished in 2000, currently consisting of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda. Since 2008, the bloc has been part of a common free trade area with the Southern African Development Community and Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала