The East African Community (EAC), through its Secretary-General, is set to create a hotline via which cross-border state traders will be provided with a platform to register their challenges and get instant feedback and follow-up on trade-related issues.

“The hotline will enable us to register persistent trade barriers, provide feedback and make follow-ups,” said Dr. Peter Mathuki, the East African Community Secretary-General during his visit to the Namanga One-Stop Border Post.

Some of the challenges traders face are delays in releasing truck drivers’ Covid-19 test results, lack of synchronized border crossing procedure checks and different tax regimes levied on goods from Tanzania, as well as weighbridge charges.

It should be noted that the move to improve intra-regional trade through this platform is in line with the East African Community’s Priorities, which include the enhancement of free movement of all factors of production across the Partner States, and Consolidation of the Single Customs Territory. Also, the East African Community aims to raise the current level of intra-regional trade from below 20% to more than 50% over the next five years.

According to a report by UNCTAD, there are eight regional economic communities - SADC, CEN-SAD, ECOWAS, COMESA, AMU, EAC, IGAD, and ECCAS in Africa. Yet, the share of intra-African trade remains low. This can be attributed to the fact that most African countries trade more with the rest of the world than among themselves. For instance, statistics from Intracen indicate that only one African country features among the first five top exporters and importers in Tanzania and Kenya, while in some other countries there are none at all. 

Solange Che