Germany commits 37 million euro to support regional integration in East Africa
The Federal Republic of Germany and the East African Community (EAC) have successfully concluded bilateral negotiations on development cooperation at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha,Tanzania.
The Federal Republic of Germany committed a total of 37 million euros in grants to the EAC for 2016- 2018, highlighting the strong commitment to support the integration process in East Africa.
•10 million euro in financial assistance will be invested in the establishment of a regional network of reference laboratories for communicable diseases. With this project, the German Government responds to a request for support from the EAC for the prevention and control of epidemic outbreaks in the region.
•Another 10 million euro in financial assistance will be used for Integrated Water Resource Management of Lake Victoria aiming at improving water provision and management of water resources.
•17 million euros in technical assistance were committed to further support of the economic integration process, including a contribution to the EAC partnership fund. The programme is focusing on institutional strengthening of the EAC Secretariat and on supporting the implementation of the Customs Union, Common Market Protocols and Monetary Union. This includes the elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers such as tax harmonisation as well as Mutual Recognition Agreements for qualifications. At the same time Germany will support the EAC in promoting private investment especially in the pharmaceutical sector, including the establishment of a regional quality infrastructure for the pharmaceutical sector.
Speaking during the negotiations, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Mr. Liberat Mfumukeko, thanked the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for its support to the EAC spanning the years since the re-establishment of the Cooperation between the three founding EAC Partner States to the present, when the Community has expanded to include the republics of Rwanda and Burundi.
‘’We have truly benefited from the German support which has catalyzed other development Partners to support our projects and programmes. In addition, Germany has given the EAC a permanent home by financing the construction of the new Headquarters that today houses the Secretariat ,the Court and the Assembly under one roof thus greatly easing the EAC Organs interactions and communication’’, said Mr. Mfumukeko.
He highlighted the successes achieved through German support in the realisation of the fully fledged Customs Union, the Common Market, and the commitments to support the realisation of the Monetary Union in the succeeding programme.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General noted that the development of the East African Monitoring System within the current support had resulted in a robust means of follow up of the implementation of Council and Summit directives. He further enumerated the priorities of the EAC- German cooperation for the next years.
Mr. Georg Rademacher, Head of the German delegation, said: “Our support underlines the importance we give to the East African Community. The EAC is a role model and pace-setter in Africa and we are proud working closely with you in order to contribute to the well-being and prosperity of the citizens of this region”.
He underlined that Germany is also supporting substantial regional infrastructure projects with promotional loans of the German development bank KfW.
Only last week Ambassador Kochanke and Secretary General Sezibera signed a financial agreement to commit 30 million euros for live-saving vaccines in the EAC and the establishment of the EAC Regional Centre of Excellence for Health Supply Chain Management in Kigali.
With a view to strengthen the pandemic preparedness in the EAC, Germany had announced its willingness to provide an additional 3 million euros in technical assistance for the region`s crisis response capacity (out of special funds for 2016).
Since cooperation began in 1998 the total volume of German support to the EAC amounts to almost 213 million euro. Germany also has substantial bilateral cooperation with all five EAC member states.