Speaking to the press after meeting President Kagame, Kengo wa Dondo pointed out that there is need to increase cooperation between Rwanda and Congo:

“It is time for us to open our border for the free circulation of people, goods and investments. The Rwandan people have the expertise in agriculture, farming and in the service sector and we can all learn from each other.”

On the ongoing crisis in the East of his country, the Senate President said:

“We appreciated President Kagame’s vision of the DRC crisis as one that calls for a political and not a military solution.”

The Rwanda Senate President, Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo said cooperation between the two Parliaments will help solve arising issues effectively before they get out of control.

“As people who speak on behalf of the people of the two countries, we will be able to explain issues and make them understood by the people. The consensus between the two Parliaments is that political problems need political solutions, not military ones because we all understand that if you defeat one military group, another one may sprout from somewhere else. The people of Congo need peace”

The Parliamentary Committees from both countries for foreign affairs are going to discuss the existing working relations between the two Parliaments, and the kind of partnership that could be put in place in order for the two committees to contribute to peace, development and stability in the region. The meeting which will be concluded by a number of resolutions is expected to prepare the CEPGL Summit that will be convened by President Kabila to discuss regional issues and the Kampala talks initiated by regional countries.

Countries in sub-Saharan Africa took up each of the bottom 10 places for the first time in the 14 years that the report has been produced, reported AFP.

In contrast, Finland took the top spot, with its Nordic neighbours filling the other leading positions.

The London-based charity’s “State of the World’s Mothers” compared 176 countries in terms of maternal health, child mortality, education and levels of women’s income and political status.

The group called for investment to close the “startling disparities” in maternal health between the developed and developing world and for a push to fight inequality and malnutrition.

The report found that a woman or girl in the DRC has a one in 30 chance of dying from maternal causes — including childbirth.

In Finland the risk is one in 12,200.

“By investing in mothers and children, nations are investing in their future prosperity,” said Jasmine Whitbread, Save the Children International’s Chief Executive.

“If women are educated, are represented politically, and have access to good quality maternal and child care, then they and their children are much more likely to survive and thrive – and so are the societies they live in,” she added.

“Huge progress has been made across the developing world, but much more can be done to save and improve millions of the poorest mothers and newborns’ lives.”

After the DRC, the next worst countries were listed as Somalia, Sierra Leone, Mali and Niger.

The report blamed the high death rates for babies in sub-Saharan Africa on the poor health of mothers — citing figures which show 10 – 20 percent are underweight.

It also highlighted the number of mothers giving birth “before their bodies have matured”, the low use of contraception, poor access to satisfactory healthcare and a dearth of health-workers.

The study identified four potentially lifesaving products which it claims could be rolled out universally.

They are corticosteroid injections to women in preterm labour; resuscitation devices to save babies who do not breathe at birth; chlorhexidine cord cleansing to prevent umbilical cord infections and injectable antibiotics to treat newborn sepsis and pneumonia.

The top countries after Finland were Sweden, Norway, Iceland and the Netherlands, with the USA trailing in 30th place behind Slovenia and Lithuania.

The report blamed the poor placing on its “weaker performance on measures of maternal health and child-wellbeing”.

GVTC also stands as a Mechanism for strategic, transboundary, collaborative management of the Greater Virunga Landscape in three counties namely; Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It was set up to effectively conserve and manage the rare mountain gorillas and their habitat. The institutions that manage it include; the Rwanda Development Board, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Congolese Institute of Conservation and Nature-ICCN as they are the parc authorities in the different countries. A Technical Executive Secretariat has its headquarters in Kigali and ensures the running of activities of this collaboration.

The head of Tourism and Conservation in RDB, Rica Rwigamba takes over as GVTC Chairperson following the end of the term of her colleague, Dr. Wilungula of the Congolese Institute for Conservation of Nature (ICCN).

Rwigamba mentioned that she would work on law enforcement to ensure better management of the wildlife ecosystems in the region. “I will strengthen the achievements we have already registered. I will work towards having a legal mechanism like a treaty signed by all the countries to enhance collaboration,” she said.

“We can enhance tourism development in the Virunga area by diversifying our products as a region so that we increase length of stay in this very rich landscape that we share,” she added.
In 2012 alone, Rwanda received 28,483 visitors for gorilla trekking only. The Greater Virunga Landscape is estimated to have 880 Mountain Gorillas, which accounts for almost half of the total number of the primates in the world.

Greater Virunga Transboundary Collaboration is a Mechanism for strategic, transboundary, collaborative management of the Greater Virunga Landscape. Set up by ICCN, RDB and UWA with their partners in the region, it started with ranger collaboration to protect mountain gorillas in Mgahinga, Bwindi, Virunga and Volcanoes NPs in 1991. Later it has expanded in scope (tourism, community conservation and research and monitoring). The area also now extends to central and north Virunga (DRC), Queen Elizabeth, Rwenzori Mountains and Semuliki NPs (Uganda). The Executive Secretariat sits from 2008 in Kigali to coordinate and link stakeholders on behalf of the Protected Area Authorities.

The Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU) annual general meeting is expected to be held between May 13 and 14 this year in Dar es Salaam and attended by about 200 foreign participants from 14 countries.

The conference which will gather participants mostly from southern Africa is to focus on current agricultural financing arrangements and debate appropriate ways to grow agriculture production in the future.

The event is being hosted by the Agriculture Council of Tanzania. Speaking to East African Business Week last week, the SACAU Chief Executive Officer, Ishmael Sunga said participants will meet during the SACAU annual general meeting.

Sunga said they want to transform the agriculture sector to a higher level in such a manner that it is broad based, growth -oriented and enterprise development driven.

“In the meeting, the stakeholders will discuss, among the other things, how to find out types of agriculture that will transform farmers’ life from poverty to commercial,” Sunga said.

The meeting will also update farming leaders on selected key agricultural-related initiatives. It will also provide information regarding the global supply and demand projections of key agricultural commodities and highlight the opportunities and threats facing farmers and agribusiness.

Sunga said the gathering will have a session challenging conventional agricultural development approaches which tend to focus mainly on food security. This is because every farming enterprise regardless of its size aspires to grow and prosper.

While Kikwete is expected to inaugurate the meeting, Premier Mizengo Pinda will give the closing remarks. SACAU is a regional farmers’ organization that was established in 1992. Its membership is open to national farmers’ unions and regional commodity associations in Southern Africa.

Coffee contributes about US$400 million of Uganda’s total annual export revenue, directly or indirectly employing at least two million people. But coffee production, like other export crops in Uganda, is mainly rain-fed, making it vulnerable to climate variability.

“The economy of Uganda remains largely dependent on a few agro-commodities (coffee, tea, cotton), predominantly rain-fed and grown by smallholders with limited external inputs, making the country highly sensitive to climate risks,” Julie Karami Dekens, the International Institute for Sustainable Development’s (IISD) project manager for climate change and energy, told IRIN via email.

The six-month pilot project, which was launched on 5 April, is a collaboration between Uganda’s Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), the local Makerere University and IISD.

The programme will explore climate vulnerabilities across the coffee value chain – the movement of coffee from farming to processing to marketing – with a view to expanding these assessments to other agricultural value chains. It reflects growing recognition that climate change will have far-reaching effects across the agricultural, administrative and economic sectors.

“Climate change is a multi-sector challenge, which calls for concerted efforts of not only the environment sector, but also the trade sector,” Norman Ojamuge, MTIC senior commercial officer, told IRIN.

Value chain development

According to a recent government briefing on the project, value chain development is crucial to the growth of agricultural commodities. But limited work has been done to understand the impact of climate risks along the levels of value chains. The project hopes to help bridge this gap.

A separate 2013 study, Climate Risk Management for Sustainable Crop Production in Uganda, noted: “There is a need to understand how climate risks are distributed and transmitted (or not) among all the stakeholders of value chains (not just at production level) to identify solutions that benefit all actors along the value chain and opportunities for investments.”

Incorporating climate change into agriculture will mean that “there will be a coherent and thorough integration of climate change adaptation and the associated disaster risk management agendas and structures. into sectoral and national strategies,” said Betty Namwagala, the executive director of the Uganda Coffee Federation.

Climate risks

Climate risks facing coffee production in Uganda include the increased prevalence of pests and diseases. For example, coffee leaf rust has been reported in many arabica coffee growing areas, with the black twig borer pest emerging as a threat in robusta coffee growing areas.
There has also been a fluctuation in coffee production in Uganda over the past 40 years, a situation attributable to climate variability, reduced soil fertility and mismanagement, according to Uganda’s Coffee Development Authority (UCDA).

Droughts and floods are also challenges.

“Water stress in the dry season affects the physiological activity of the arabica plant, causing a reduction in photosynthesis,” explained Namwagala.

“Some farmers have lost their plantations and lives to landslides that are attributed to climate change. Areas that depend on rain-fed agriculture may sometimes require irrigation, and taking into consideration the nature of our producers, many have abandoned their farms since they cannot afford irrigation or access to sources of water that can support irrigation,” she added.

“If climatic events, such as exceedingly high temperatures, occur during sensitive periods of the life of the crop, for example during flowering or fruit setting, then yields will be adversely affected, and particularly if accompanied by reduced rainfall, thereby reducing incomes of all sector players,” she said.

David Mafabi, a coffee farmer in the eastern Uganda district of Mbale, said: “Coffee production depends on nature. We suffer if there is too much [rain] or drought. As a result of drought, coffee does not mature well, and the harvest will be disappointing.”

Climate change can affect links further up the value chain, as well.

“More frequent or intense extreme weather events may deteriorate infrastructure such as storage facilities and roads, leading to reductions in crop quality and limited access to markets,” said IISD’s Dekens.

Development planning

The management of these climate risks is key to development planning.

Uganda’s development strategy relies heavily on exports – including coffee – to achieve the country’s ‘Vision 2040′ national development plan that aims to transform the nation from a low-income country to a competitive upper-middle-income country with a per capita income of about $9,500.

At present, some of strategies being used to minimize the negative impacts of climate hazards on coffee production include the breeding and selection of more disease-resistant and drought-tolerant varieties. Through the UCDA, coffee farming is also being introduced into new areas, especially in northern Uganda, to boost production and to test potential growing locations.

Coffee farmers are also adopting best practices such as crop diversification, intercropping and agroforestry. Still, further support in managing climate risk is still needed.

According to IISD’s Dekens, “Further studies are required assess the economic impacts of climate hazard[s] on coffee production. It is difficult to differentiate the costs associated with the impacts of climate risk on coffee production from that of other factors, such as reduced soil fertility and mismanagement, which also contribute to reduce coffee production in Uganda.”

“For example, since year 2005 the volume of trade has increased from shillings 12,384,000 ($7,618,607.8494 ) to shillings 196,826,000 ($121,086,895.076) in 2011,” Kikwete, said.
He said: “The increased trade has been further enhanced by the trade agreement signed between our two governments in 2010 as well as direct Turkish Airlines flights between our two countries.”
Kikwete said there is room for expanding economic and trade relations taking into consideration that Turkey has particular strength in textiles and clothing and Tanzania is growing cotton and sale most of it in its raw form.
“In this regard, the opportunity to invest in textile industry is huge. But there is much more in the manufacturing sector that Turkish investors can do. Tanzania has plenty of raw materials such as minerals, forest products, marine products, etc,” he noted. Indeed there are also opportunities in other sectors such as tourism and infrastructure including hotels, restaurants, energy, ports etc.
In order to make Tanzania the preferred destination for foreign direct investment, continuous improvements of business environment have been made in the country.
“As a result of our efforts, Tanzania is among countries in Africa that has competitive investment regime in terms of both fiscal and non-fiscal incentives as enshrined in our investment and related laws,” said the president.
In February 2010, President Kikwete addressed the Turkey-Tanzania Business Forum in Istanbul to promote trade between the two countries, asking Turkish investors to look at Tanzania as a lucrative investment destination.

“Amid almost total indifference, people are enduring violent treatment every day. Civilians are directly targeted in attacks that do not even spare children or elderly people, and many people are subjected to sexual violence,” said Mr Maurer in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

In Goma, the ICRC president visited the Don Bosco centre, which accommodates over 3,000 children in difficulty, who are made even more vulnerable by the war and other violence. “Some have lost all trace of their families in the chaos of fighting and the ensuing displacement,” said Mr Maurer. “I was deeply moved by all of these personal tragedies, like that of Kambale K., only 10 years old, who has had no news of his parents since last November.”

Maurer also went to the bedsides of dozens of people wounded in recent fighting who are being treated in Goma’s Ndosho Hospital, where an ICRC surgical team has been working since November of last year alongside local personnel. He listened to the story of eight-year-old Éden K., seriously injured in a rocket attack, whose leg had to be amputated.

Many medical facilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo struggle to treat the wounded and the sick, as they lack supplies, which are often looted, or because there are armed men on the premises, or because medical staff cannot safely reach their workplace.

“Serious violations of international humanitarian law must stop. It is the responsibility of everyone in a position of influence to work urgently for greater respect for international humanitarian law,” declared Maurer, in the hope that the various talks and peace initiatives currently under way will help ease the suffering and improve the humanitarian situation in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

“The resurgence of inter-community tension and the fragmentation of armed groups are driving the region every day a bit further into chaos and violence,” he added. The security situation has deteriorated in the Kivu provinces, in Katanga and in the parts of Maniema that border North and South Kivu. The situation in Eastern Province, in Ituri especially, also remains tense.

“The unpredictability is causing strong concern within the communities and among those striving to bring aid to them,” said Maurer. “In this context, the presence and activities of volunteers of the Red Cross Society of the Democratic Republic of the Congo are crucial. The volunteers, who are often the first to help people, have to cope with the cruelty and horror of certain situations. Their commitment is boundless.”

In view of the increase in humanitarian needs, the ICRC is preparing to mobilize its donors with the aim of boosting its activities in eastern DRC, particularly those relating to surgical and other medical care for people wounded in the violence, and those carried out to provide food, water and other basic necessities for displaced people. The DRC is the site of one of the ICRC’s five largest operations in the world in budgetary terms.

In Kinshasa, Maurer met with congolese officials.The discussions focused on the situation in the east of the country, and on that of people held in the country’s prisons. “The living conditions in some places of detention are catastrophic: overcrowding sometimes reaches 700 per cent, and malnutrition is a persistent problem,” said the ICRC president, who visited Kinshasa’s central prison. He insisted on the necessity of making enough resources available to meet detainees’ essential needs.

As part of his visit to the region, Maurer also went to Kigali, in Rwanda, where he is set to meet with the prime minister and the foreign minister. In Rwanda, the ICRC is working to improve living conditions for detainees and to promote international humanitarian law. In addition, together with the Rwandan and Congolese Red Cross societies it is helping to restore contact between family members who find themselves on opposite sides of the border with the DRC. During the past few weeks, it has also provided medical care for people injured in clashes in the Kivus and who are now on Rwandan soil.

The international EITI Board (Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative) temporarily suspended the Democratic Republic of the Congo with immediate effect on 17 April 2013.

In reaching this decision, the Board recognised the magnitude and complexity of the challenges facing the government in implementing EITI in the country. The Board commended the Government and stakeholders for their commitment to the EITI Principles and Criteria, and particularly applauded EITI stakeholders for their dedicated efforts in a challenging environment.

EITI Chair, Clare Short said:

“The DRC still receives shockingly little for its mineral resources. It is not surprising that there are great challenges for the DRC to produce reliable and comprehensive EITI reports, but it is making progress and generating important debate. As the data becomes more reliable and more comprehensive and the debate more widespread, the EITI will help identify areas for improvement in the government and company systems and create momentum for reform. Alongside government efforts on contract and license transparency and other reforms, the EITI in the DRC could be a powerful tool for a better governed sector.”

Since it became an EITI Candidate in 2008, the DRC has completed two EITI Validations. The Board concluded that the country has made significant progress towards improving transparency and accountability over the last five years. DRC has disclosed revenue figures from the extractives sector in three EITI Reports.

Despite this progress, however, the Board found that the quality of EITI Reports did not yet meet all requirements in the EITI standard, particularly requirements for full disclosure and assurance of the reliability of the figures.

Following a review of DRC’s latest Validation Report, the Board has identified corrective actions to be implemented in the next twelve months necessary to reach EITI Compliant status. The Board encouraged all stakeholders to use this temporary suspension as an opportunity to give full attention to implementing the identified corrective actions.

The suspension can be lifted when the Board is content that the agreed corrective actions have been completed satisfactorily. EITI compliance will be verified through a Secretariat Review conducted within the next twelve months. If the suspension is in effect for more than one year, beyond 17 April 2014, the Board will consider delisting the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this case the country would lose its status as EITI Candidate and would no longer be considered an EITI implementing country.

At the end of March, the United Nations Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 2098. This not only extended the mandate of MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), until 2014, but also catered for the creation of an Intervention Brigade, a new special unit tasked with conducting “targeted offensive operations” against rebel groups.

Led by a Tanzanian general, the Intervention Brigade will be composed of 3,069 troops, organised into three infantry battalions, one artillery, and one Special Force and reconnaissance company. Tanzania, Malawi, and South Africa will all contribute troops, and the brigade will be mandated to “prevent the expansion of all armed groups, neutralize these groups, and to disarm them”.

One of the incentives behind the creation of the brigade was impotence of MONUSCO last year in the face of the eastern Congolese rebels M23 as they seized towns and cities right under UN peacekeepers’ noses.

The Intervention Brigade with its more explicitly combative mandate will no doubt provide new impetus in attempts to tackle the DRC’s numerous non-state armed groups. However, it is not clear that the underlying issues which hampered MONUSCO taking action in 2012 and which have long hindered UN forces in the region have really been addressed.

Old problems die hard

To begin with, MONUSCO is somewhat constrained by its mandate in a Catch-22-like situation: it must provide civilian protection but also restore the authority of the Congolese state, an actor which is all too often amongst the main perpetrators of violence itself.

It should also be pointed out that MONUSCO (and its predecessor MONUC before it) did have a Chapter VII mandate, allowing it “to use all necessary means…[to] ensure the effective protection of civilians”. Rules of engagement and parallel chains of command from troop-contributing countries, however, have obstructed its ability to use force.

Despite being a heavyweight amongst international peacekeeping missions, MONUSCO has also had serious constraints for many years in terms of transport speed, quality, and capacity. It is far from adequately equipped. For example, its maximum 17,000 soldiers (adding up to slightly over 20,000 with civilian and police staff) for an area the size of Western Europe – resulting in a ratio of one blue helmet per 10-15 square kilometres for the two Kivu provinces – is far too little. Troop-contributing countries also tend to be reluctant to provide their soldiers with expensive, high-quality equipment, resulting in operational delays.

It is unclear to what extent these underlying and structural weaknesses of MONUSCO in the past will also affect the Intervention Brigade.

One brigade, many rebels

The new force will also face its own new problems. With just 3,000 soldiers, it’s unlikely it will be able to confront different armed groups at the same time. Different objectives will have to be ranked and prioritised, and this will inevitably have political consequences. There is the risk that political perceptions around the brigade’s decisions of who to tackle and in what order could be controversial and end up discrediting the force – and by extension MONUSCO and the UN – in some actors eyes. The regional make-up of the brigade could also raise suspicions of hidden political agendas.

There are also simply a large number of armed groups in the region. Even after integration processes have started for a number of the Kivus’ larger militias – such as the Mayi-Mayi Yakutumba/Mayele in South Kivu, as well as the currently stalled process with Nyatura and APCLS in North Kivu – a potential pool of 20-30 armed groups will still remain active. Many of these are very small in numbers and arms and/or poorly organised, but they can still have a deadly impact on civilian populations in remote areas.

One of the more major rebel groups is the FDLR, a Rwandan Hutu power outfit. The FDLR appears to have weakened in the past few years – partly due to joint Rwando-Congolese military operations but also due to the Raia Mutomboki’s presence in South Kivu – but remains a brutal and indeterminable threat. Having been dislodged from many former strongholds, the FDLR now operates in a scattered fashion and has retreated to difficult to access areas.*

The M23 meanwhile is believed to have close to 2,000 combatants and has already proven its fighting capacity and discipline.

The M23 is also still engaged in talks with the Congolese government, further complicating the picture. Attacking M23 while talks are ongoing would seriously thwart diplomatic efforts. Indeed, while the military branch of M23 was measured in its reaction to news of the Intervention Brigade, its political counterparts were less restrained. M23’s president, Bertrand Bisimwa, for example, branded the plan “l’option de guerre”.

An aggressive stance from the brigade could thus bring about an increase in violent reactionary skirmishes. And civilians could be put at risk if rebel groups resort to retaliatory attacks. Moreover, there is a danger that all UN actors (and maybe other humanitarians) will become associated with offensive action and come to be seen as legitimate targets.

Tough choices

For the Intervention Brigade to be successful, it is of utmost importance that, a) a flexible set of rules of engagement is established, b) material assets and equipment correspond to both the needs of the troops and the necessities of the intervention area, and c) political support is provided at various levels.

Its choice of which groups to tackle will also have to be made carefully. Many are no doubt already on the brigade’s radar – such as the FDLR, M23, Sheka, the Masisi-based groups, Raia Mutomboki and others. A prudent choice in terms of feasibility and political impact, including at the local level, will be of paramount importance to the success of the brigade and therefore the UN’s operations in the DRC. Moreover, in terms of political balancing it will be dangerous to exclusively concentrate on M23 as indicated by several UN sources.

The historical deployment of the intervention brigade bears a couple of historical pitfalls too. The currently multifaceted UN strategy involving the newly-appointed UN Special Envoy Mary Robinson, the Intervention Brigade, and a support role in both the 11+4 Addis Ababa framework and the Kampala talks appears more a cacophony than a coherent strategy. Beyond that, the urgent need to create a local counterpart to complement international (Addis Ababa) and national (Kampala) peace process elements has neither been addressed by the DRC government nor the UN.

From Think Africa Press

Editorial Note:The FDLR is also said to officially complement the DRC government in the control of large parts of the Kivus: notably in Walikale, Masisi, Rutshuru (Nyanzale, Kitchanga), and some remote parts of the South Kivu (ndlr).

In the Address, President Museveni has reiterated the need for the region to resolve existing strategic bottlenecks if the EAC is to spur integration and to enable citizens enjoy the accrued benefits. The President maintained that it was time for the region to eye political unity as a stabilising factor to development and called on the East African Legislative Assembly to use its legislative agenda and mandate to support the same.

The President in essence, told the EAC to strive to solve what he called ‘the basic yet fundamental challenges’ dogging the bloc as it moves towards the tactical areas.

“There are a number of strategic bottlenecks which are hampering development in the region. However, two main issues are with regards to the existence of small markets and inadequate infrastructure, especially the energy issue’ President Museveni remarked.

The Head of State affirmed that during his tenure as the Chairperson of the Summit, he would prioritise on infrastructure development to enable the region take its flight to the next level. ‘I have recently visited Russia and held discussions with the President. I expect some investors to begin talking business with the EAC soon’, President Museveni said.

He also undertook to push for the amendments to the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC in response to a request by the Speaker of EALA, Rt. Hon Dr. Margaret Nantongo Zziwa.

The Chair of the Summit noted that the EAC integration was the most progressive and with the brightest future since it aims for a key ultimate stage which is the political integration.

‘Though economic integration is good, there are certain crucial issues that it may fail to address – and which a Political Federation will cushion the region against’, President Museveni added. He stated that a formula was needed to work how to share benefits arising from the Common Market Protocol.

‘We blame the Europeans for decolonising us – but apart from Ethiopia who were not colonised, the rest of us suffered since we were politically weak’ the President remarked.

‘Africa has a larger area in terms of squares per miles as compared to the likes of China, India and the US and the continent is fertile and well watered. But we have failed to take advantage of our political strengths’, he added.

The President was categorical that such a move would ensure that Africa taps into further economic growth and enables a stronger voice in the international arena. In the regard, the Head of State cited the need to harness energy and electricity for development. He reminded the legislators that Africa’s Kilowatt per capita was extremely low.
“Uganda has 150 kilowatt per capita compared to South Africa and Libya which are edging close to 4200 Kilowatts. The United States has 12,400 kilowatt per capita and more action is necessary on our part,’ President Museveni said.

The President’s speech delved into other strategic bottlenecks which he termed destructive to regional integration. He cited tribal, religious and gender ideological disorientations, lack of viable pillars in the judicial and defence sectors leading to collapse of state authority, attacks on the Private Sector initiatives and under-development of human resources and skills. Other challenges include an under-developed service sector, lack of industrialisation and lack of democracy.

The Chair of the Summit however noted that the region and Africa was on the path to recovery and had started correcting the wrongs.
The President tasked the EAC to address existing weaknesses as it explores the continental move. The President cited a number of challenges including the Non Tariff Barriers as contributing to the weakening of the integration process.

In attendance was the Hon. Jean Damascene Ntawukuriryayo, President of the Senate, Hon. Rose Mukantabana, Speaker of Rwanda Chamber of Deputies and Hon Shem Bageine, Chairperson, EAC Council of Ministers. Others were the EAC Secretary General, Amb Richard Sezibera, several dignitaries and high ranking government officials.

On her part, the Speaker of EALA, Hon Dr Margaret Nantongo Zziwa congratulated the Summit for the wise leadership noting that citizens had continued to enjoy the benefits of integration. The Speaker however called on the Council of Ministers to bring forth more Bills for debate and legislation.

She remarked that more was required to be done to realise the Common Market Protocol and called on the Partner States to immediately enable their domestic laws to conform to the Protocol.
“Specifically, the Common Market Protocol which was signed three years ago spells out a number of benefits for the region including the free movement of persons, labour, goods and services among others. We are yet to see real dynamism on the part of the Partner States to facilitate the implementation of the Protocol but we remain hopeful that they will act. Steps like issuance of national identity cards will go a long way in facilitating the free movement of the people especially the common person”, the Speaker remarked.

The Speaker once again called for the removal of Non Tariff Barriers which she maintained continued to hamper business.

“Inadequate infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly roads, railways and energy have also hindered progress in a number of ways. NTBs continue to pose a big threat to the free flow of business in the region and this limits the people of East Africa from enjoying the benefits of integration. The time has come for the EAC region to collectively seek permanent solutions to the removal of NTBs”, the Speaker said.