Heads of East African Community ( EAC) member states will wrap up their 18-month-long negotiations and ink a protocol this Friday to establish the EAC Common Market, another crucial step forward in East Africa's integration process after the establishment of the Customs Union in 2005.
The EAC consists of five member states: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, with a development strategy of growing up from a Customs Union, a Common Market to a Monetary Union and eventually a Political Federation.
The EAC created a Customs Union in January 2005 with the main objective of forming a single customs territory. Trade is at the core of the
Customs Union.
It is within this context that internal tariffs and non-tariff barriers that could hinder trade between the partner states have to be
eliminated, in order to facilitate the formation of one large single market and investment area.
The aim of creating one single customs territory is to enable partner states to enjoy economies of scale, with a view to supporting the process of economic development.
The EAC's economic integration is not just for purpose of trade but as a vehicle for bringing about faster economic development.