Trade among EAC members up as region reduces curbs

What you need to know:

  • Trade among member states of the East African Community rose by 56.6 per cent between 2009 and 2017, thanks to a reduction in barriers

Dodoma. Intra-East African trade rose by 56.6 per cent between 2017 and 2009.

The trend has been attributed to a reduction in trade barriers, according to Finance and Planning deputy minister Ashatu Kijaji.

She was responding to a question in Parliament on Friday, November, 2018, by Nkenge MP (CCM) Diodorus Kamala, who wanted to know what the East African Community (EAC) common market had achieved.

Dr Kijaji said the intra-EAC trade volume jumped to $5.4 billion (Sh12.2 trillion) last year from $3.4 billion (Sh7.7 trillion) in 2009.

"Trade volume has been increasing year after year, thanks to increased number of companies operating within the region."

She said trade barriers among the member states had been reduced from 158 in the last eight years to 31 in July, 2018.

Also, the number of Tanzanians employed in other EAC member states in the last six months rose to 566, up from 364 in the last half of 2017.