EAC - East African Community

History and Background

The East African Community (EAC) is the regional intergovernmental organisation of the Republics of Kenya, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania, Republic of Burundi and Republic of Rwanda with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The present East African Community (EAC) is a revival of the previous East African Cooperation between Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda which collapsed in 1977, largely owing to political frictions among the three countries. East African Cooperation was re-established in the 1990s.

The Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community was signed on 30th November 1999 and entered into force on 7th July 2000 following its ratification by the Original 3 Partner States – Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi acceded to the EAC Treaty on 18th June 2007 and became full Members of the Community with effect from 1st July 2007.

EAC’s main objective, as set out in its Treaty, is to enhance the region’s competitiveness through ever deeper integration – inclusive of  a Customs Union, a Common Market, a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation of East African States .

The EAC’s three main organs are the Secretariat, the Legislative Assembly (EALA) and the Court of Justice (EACJ), all of them based in Arusha ( Tanzania).

The EAC aims at widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in, among others, political, economic and social fields for their mutual benefit. To this extent the EAC countries established a Customs Union in 2005 and are working towards the establishment of a Common Market by 2010, subsequently a Monetary Union by 2012 and ultimately a Political Federation of the East African States.

The realization of a large regional economic bloc encompassing Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda with a combined population of 120 million, land area of 1.85 million sq kilometres and a combined gross domestic product of  $41 billion, bears great strategic and geopolitical significance and prospects of a renewed and reinvigorated East African Community.

The regional integration process witin the EAC is at a high pitch at the moment. The encouraging progress of the East African Customs Union, the enlargement of the Community with admission of Rwanda and Burundi, the ongoing negotiations of the East African Common Market as well as the consultations on fast tracking the process towards East African Federation all underscore the serious determination of the East African leadership and citizens to construct a powerful and sustainable East African economic and political bloc.

The landmark EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Summit held in Kampala, Uganda on the 22nd of October 2008 indicates the EAC's commitment to broadening its integration agenda. The milestone EAC-SADC-COMESA Summit is considered historic because for the first time, since the birth of the African Union (AU), key building blocks of the African Economic Community  met on how to integrate territories and moving towards deepening and widening integration within the overall Abuja Treaty for the establishment of the African Economic Community.