East African Cooperation meeting kicks off in Arusha

The East African Cooperation (EAC) meeting today, in preparation for tomorrow’s (Friday) summit, kicked off in Arusha amid last minute delays, EAC Secretariat spokesman Magaga Alot told IRIN. “There is a lot of confusion and commotion here. Consultative committees are still in discussions, but I hope the official opening will take place,” he said. Convertibility of the currencies of the three member countries, a common flag and passport, harmonisation of tariffs and mobility of citizens, are some of the fruits of regional cooperation, so far. However, according to analysts, these are not proper yardsticks to measure the success of the EAC. More importantly, they say, is whether agreements reached at the political level apply on the ground, and all partners are equally benefiting. “The biggest fault is that a lot of work has been done by people coming from a background of government bureaucracy. There is little interaction with the private sector, movers of the economies,” financial analyst Robert Shaw told IRIN. Apart from corruption, which he says is common to all the three countries, there is a problem of a trade imbalance in Kenya’s favour. These, he told IRIN, are some basic bottlenecks that must be corrected. “Expansion of membership would be nice for building bigger trading blocs to attract investment. But, let us get things right and working, and then bring in others,” he added.