Uganda pushes for regional economic partnership pact

What you need to know:

  • Advantage. The benefits the EPA include technical assistance from EU to EAC in form of trainings and capacity building.

Kampala.

Uganda has assumed a leading role in trying to persuade the rest of the East African Community (EAC) partner states to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) as a bloc, urging the member states to conclude the deal in the next three months.

The EPA is an initiative by the European Union (EU) to secure free market access in the EAC region and the community gets reciprocal treatment.
The EPA deal was expected to be signed during the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIV) that took place last week in Nairobi, Kenya but this did not happen.

Uganda now wants the five EAC partner states to sign the agreement before the deadline of October 2016.

Uganda had earlier made its position clear, saying it will only sign the deal if all partner states are reading from the same script. This was after Tanzania, one of the key member states expressed reservation about the agreement, saying it has the potential to stifle the growth of her nascent industries.

Despite the opportunities that the deal between the two blocs could bring, Tanzania also fears for the impact of Britain leaving the EU, arguing that caution should be exercised before committing to the agreement.

In a move to have Tanzania on board, last Wednesday, Uganda’s minister of Trade Amelia Kyambadde met her counterparts at the end of the UNCTAD XIV to persuade them into the deal.

“There is need to further strengthen the trade relations between EAC and the EU by signing the EPA because of the tangible benefits that come with the agreement,” Ms Kyambadde told her counterparts from Kenya and Tanzania.

She continued: “The benefits include technical assistance from EU to EAC in form of trainings and capacity building for compliance with standards and product safety, increased market access through zero tariffs on EAC products exported to EU, and a secure and predictable legal regime to govern trade between the two blocs.”

According to Ms Kyambadde if EAC decided not to accept the deal, it will mean that EU member countries will retain what is known as the Everything But Arms (EBA) agreement which would subject EAC to unfair terms of trade, impacting even on exportation of raw materials from EAC to EU.

Kenya’s minister of Trade, Adnan Mohammed, agreed with Uganda on fast-tracking the signing of the EPA, saying Kenya is committed to getting the EPA out of the way but wants to move as EAC and not an individual country.

Political discussions
The signing of the EPA is currently at political level pending further discussions by heads of state in an EAC summit to be held in August. Importantly perhaps, regional countries trade more between and among each other than they do with the European Union.