New policies to ease trade within the EAC

Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs Commerce and Tourism Phyllis Kandie (right) is presented with 'Best of kenya' Vol 3 book by Brand Kenya C.E.O. Mrs Mary Kimonye during the launch of the book at a Nairobi hotel today. Kandie said the strategy and policy will help spur growth within the region. PHOTO/COURTESY

What you need to know:

  • East African Community, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie said the strategy and policy will help spur growth within the region.
  • Inadequate enforcement machinery, sanction mechanisms and lack of data on chances that exist in the region are not making matters any better. Kenya is member of a number of regional economic communities (REC) including EAC, Comesa and Igad. It is also a signatory in various regional trade and bilateral trade pacts. 

The government has developed draft policies geared towards easing trade in the East African community (EAC) and other trading blocs.

East African Community, Commerce and Tourism Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie said the strategy and policy will help spur growth within the region.

“Kenya’s strategic interests are aimed at expanding its commercial horizons that integrate into global and regional architecture in addition to leveraging foreign agencies and businesses headquartered in Nairobi,” she said.

Mrs Kandie spoke at the Serena Hotel on Tuesday while addressing cabinet and principal secretaries from all Kenyan ministries.

The country has not reaped the full benefits of regional integration due to prevalence of non-tariff barriers, trade facilitation limitations, and a weak and inefficient institutional infrastructure.

INSUFFICIENT CAPACITY

Inadequate enforcement machinery, sanction mechanisms and lack of data on chances that exist in the region are not making matters any better. Kenya is member of a number of regional economic communities (REC) including EAC, Comesa and Igad. It is also a signatory in various regional trade and bilateral trade pacts. 

“Regional integration has been hampered by such factors as the country’s participation in multiple RECs with different integration time lines, disjointed national institutional frameworks, inadequate supply capacity and indifferent trade logistics,” reads the strategy and policy.

Other challenges are anchored in the structural economic rigidities on account of low value-added products and investable resources, missing intra-regional and linkages to global value chains in support of industrialisation.

This then manifests itself in supply capacity insufficiencies, narrow based commodity exports with low value added content. They are also worsened by limited factor movement; and low infrastructure densities, inefficient trade logistics and information flow.

These are some of the challenges that have pushed the ministry to draft key strategies and policies to put the country in line with EAC standards and consequently speed up integration from the Kenyan side.