East African Business Week

ARUSHA, TANZANIA-Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda are among the six fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera.
"Of the six fastest growing economies in Sub Saharan Africa, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Mozambique, three are members of our Community," Sezibera  said last week at the launching of the EAC Vision Consultative Group in Arusha, Tanzania.
 He said this pattern is replicated even when considering sector specific growth.
"Two of the four fastest growers in the financial services sector;  Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia and Ghana, are East African, while Kenya, Rwanda, Ethiopia are among the three fastest growing countries in the hospitality sector," he explained.
Sezibera said Rwanda is the fastest doing business reformer in Africa, and is among the top five globally for  two years running while of the three Sub Saharan Countries with the highest infrastructure outlays, Uganda, Kenya and Ghana, two are in East Africa," he said.
He added that the EAC has within a relatively short time since its establishment in 2000, realized tremendous progress in regional co-operation and significant impact on regional development.
"The region's combined GDP has risen to $78b up from $20b in 1999 and following the enlargement of the EAC in 2007, the EAC region now boasts a sizeable market of a combined population of 130m," he said.
Sezibera noted that with the consolidation of the Customs Union and establishment of the Common Market, the regional programmes have reached its threshold with most of the region's development Master Plans have been taken to the implementation stages.
These include projects and programmes in infrastructure, roads, railways, inland waterways, ports and harbours, Communications/ICT, energy and Civil Aviation, which have been prioritized under the 4th EAC Development Strategy (2011-2016).
"EAC is also intensifying activities in agriculture and rural development, industrialization, Lake Victoria Basin Development among others,".  
The EAC boss said the secretariat has also prioritized trade and investments promotion activities to the traditional markets in Europe and North America and the emerging markets of Asia and Latin America.
EAC is also participating as a bloc at the forefront of the Tripartite EAC-COMESA-SADC initiative towards the establishment of the Grand Free Trade Area of the three major African regional economic communities.