What kills East Africans can also make them stronger

What you need to know:

  • For the East African Community to bring real benefits, we can only cure it with more of what has driven some of the present inequality—more integration.

  • If most townships got rid of their posho mills, and every school stopped having its own uniform tailor, and we do these things on grand East African scales, costs will collapse. And people will sing “Integration Hallelujah”.

On Tuesday, the Society for International Development (East Africa) launched its sixth State of East Africa Report (SoEAR).

This one is titled “Consolidating Misery? The Political Economy of Inequalities”.

It is an insightful report, the type you read when you have just been dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend, or lost your job, to give you comfort that you are not alone in your misery.

Make no mistake. There was a lot of good news: East Africa is growing richer, economies are expanding (though Burundi and South Sudan stink the party somewhat) and there is a lot of money being splashed on infrastructure.

However, the report notes, this growth has been accompanied by the growth in inequality in all the East African countries. “If anything, for a growing number of East Africans, life has become—in recent years—a much harsher and harder enterprise”, the SoEAR said, and it gives the numbers to make its point.

It is like the house help who works for inconsiderate employees. At the end of the year, even if the number of Christmas gifts bought in the household doubled, she will not get any.

It then explores the structural reasons why this is the case. One senses though that the East African Community (EAC) integration’s success, was also always going to be its failure. In other words, increasing inequality is proof that the regional common market is working.

The designers of the EAC were and still are very focused on “creating a large market”. Most of its protocols are about removing barriers to trade.

The result is that the companies that have goods or services to sell regionally, were always the ones going to benefit most. Equity Bank and Kenya Commercial Bank could expand; Bidco could spread its oil; Serena Hotels could increase its footprint and Nakumatt Holdings could open more stores. Its owners have the possibility to grow several times richer.

TOUGH LUCK

For the chap growing potatoes in eastern Uganda, or milling maize flour in Thika, tough luck. Every small town in the EAC already has its potato growers and maize mill.

With the improvements at Mombasa port, and the one-stop border points, the time for big traders in Kampala or Kigali to get their goods has been reduced by more than 50 per cent over the past three years.

That does not necessarily result in more jobs, but it means a lower cost of doing business, and, therefore, more profits for their owners.

The EAC, then, was designed to produce exactly the result it is producing. The notion that it would result in more jobs and prosperity was based on hope, not design.

The EAC has no social justice institutions or even policies that would help ease these inequalities. In the European Union, a lot of workers’ rights have been advanced by the European Court of Justice. Though we have an East African court, its powers have been gutted extensively by the Big Men in recent years.

Also, advances could have been achieved through things like educational harmonisation, but there are too many vested interests that make that less possible.

Consider for example the teaching of English and mathematics. The English and maths taught in Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda is the same. But each country uses different textbooks.

If, however, they all used one textbook, and had one or two suppliers for the region, the cost would fall dramatically due to the economies of scale. And parents would, thus, pay less and save themselves quite a bit of money.

However, that matter is so hot, even the bravest East African president won’t touch it.

However, if the child of a rich East African is in an international school and studying the General Certificate of Education, she will be using the same textbook as millions of other children in the Commonwealth.

These rich parents, given the quality of textbooks they buy, in real terms, pay less. Them, they are integrated at the global, not even regional, level.

Which brings us to what seems like a contradictory conclusion. For the EAC to bring real benefits, we can only cure it with more of what has driven some of the present inequality—more integration!

If most townships got rid of their posho mills, and every school stopped having its own uniform tailor, and we do these things on grand East African scales, costs will collapse. And people will sing “Integration Hallelujah”.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is publisher, Africapedia.com and Roguechiefs.com.

Twitter: @cobbo3