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EAC

East African Community


Kenya in last-ditch effort to persuade Tanzania to sign EPA
Kenya will take its case to the European Union in Brussels in a last-ditch effort to garner support for the Economic Partnership Agreement deal.
Colonialism’s new clothes: The EU’s Economic Partnership Agreements with Africa
Though not highly publicised, the EPA has faced continued opposition from across the ACP countries, not least because of its devastating effect on small scale farmers. A new report from GRAIN goes into the details in Africa.
East Africa: Cabinet approves the ratification of the Tripartite Free Trade Area
The Ugandan Cabinet has approved the ratification of the EAC-COMESA-SADC Tripartite Free Area Agreement (FTA), paving way for the implementation of the Agreement.
Official: African states to meet deadline to establish trading bloc
The Tripartite Free Trade Area will comprise 28 countries, cover approximately 18.3 million square kilometers and hold about 61 percent of the continent’s population.
Madagascar signs tripartite free trade agreement
The agreement brings together three regional economic communities – COMESA, EAC and SADC – into a single free trade area covering 57% of Africa’s population with a combined GDP of US$1.3 trillion as of 2015
East Africa: Trade bodies move closer to free trade area - Officials
Nineteen countries have now signed the agreement. For benefits to actually be realized, it must be ratified by at least 14 of the 26 member countries. Only Egypt has ratified it.
Regional ministers meet in Kampala over free trade area
Ministers from 26 African countries are meeting in Kampala in another attempt to see through overdue negotiations on the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).
Few African countries ratify tripartite FTA
A paltry eight African have so far ratified the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) more than two years after it was launched in Egypt, raising fears of a failed continental effort to create an expanded trade barrier free market.
EAC not to force members to sign EU trade deal
Leaders of the East African Community (EAC) agreed not to force member states to sign the EAC-European Union Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA).
Africa’s free trade agreement: A step too far?
Plans to establish a single market for the 26 African countries in the Eastern and Southern African region – known as the tripartite free trade area (TFTA) – could be overly ambitious.
European Union woos Tanzania to sign trade deal
The European Union has invited the government of Tanzania for dialogue over the Economic Partnership Agreement impasse that has threatened to derail the trade pact between the bloc and the East African Community member countries.
The huge dumping of extra-EU exports of dairy products and to the EPAs of West Africa, SADC, CEMAC and EAC in 2016
The EU has been pressuring the ACP countries (Africa, Caribbean and Pacific) to sign and implement EPAs that would be destructive for these countries.
East Africa: UN body warns region against signing trade deal with EU
The report says that if the EPA is signed, local industries will struggle to withstand competitive pressures from EU firms, while the region will be stuck in its position as a low value-added commodity exporter.
“The most remarkable rejection of free trade you’ve never heard of”
Africans are insisting on actual economic development which is leaving European trade negotiators exasperated. Rick Rowden explains why their stand is historic and right.
The EAC-EU EPA: Tanzania is raising pertinent issues
Tanzania is reluctant to sign and ratify the EPA raising a number of issues including the implications of the EPA on EAC’s development in general and industrialisation in particular.
East Africa: EPA and diplomatic chess games in EAC
The East African Community is once again facing a delicate diplomatic situation as it seems now more than ever that, after protracted negotiations, member states may have to just agree to disagree on the Economic Partnership Agreement.
East Africa: EPA trade deal with Europe is a form of colonialism, says Magufuli
Tanzanian President John Magufuli described the Economic Partnership Agreement as a "form of colonialism", dampening the country’s possibility of signing the deal with the European Union.
East Africa: Tanzania demands study on impact of EU trade deal
Tanzania wants a study conducted on the impact of the Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union on the East African Community.
East Africa: Is the collapse of the Economic Partnership Agreement looming?
As it stands now, the Economic Partnership Agreement with the East African Community seems to have hit a dead end.
EAC duties losses on imports from EU28-UK from 2015 to 2040 if the EPA is signed
In the Brexit context it is useful to actualize the losses of duties that the EAC will face on its imports from the EU28 minus UK (EU28-UK) if the EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement were signed and implemented.