East African Community to Have a Single Currency By 2027
The East African Community (EAC) is currently working on a plan to have a common currency by 2027.
The announcement was made by the regional bloc’s Secretary-General Dr. Peter Mathuki during a five-day retreat for all EAC officials at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos County.
Mathuki noted that the EAC Council of Ministers is set to make a decision on the location of the East African Monetary Institute by the end of 2023.
The institute will become the precursor to the East African Central Bank and will issue the planned single currency.
“The monetary institute would allow the community to come up with a constitution that will then create a roadmap for having one currency,” Mathuki remarked.
He argued that the single currency will ease both business and the movement of persons within the EAC community, which comprises seven member states including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It is in line with our goal to make the region borderless so that people can freely move and trade as envisioned in the Common Market Protocol,” he explained.
At the same time, Mathuki pointed out that intra-EAC trade had increased, with the value of trade in 2022 standing at $10.17 billion, up from $7.1 billion in 2019.
He attributed the increase to political goodwill among the EAC heads of state and the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions in the region, among other factors.
Efforts to unite the East African Community have often been derailed by conflicts among member states.
With a larger consumer market of about 300 million people, the EAC is one of the largest regional blocs on the continent.
Comments (8)
I remember as a kid when Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania used one currency. That was around 1967 to maybe 69 or 70 I can't really recall. We also had the profitable East African Airways and goods from TZ and UG were readily available in Kenya. I wonder whether Nakasero soap from Uganda is still available in Kenya? I left the country many decades ago.
Which year did you leave Kenya?
Muammar Gaddafi dream is happening in our eyes. Gaddafi dream of having one African currency. We got enough gold in DRC and Diamonds in Tanzania to back our currency. Collective West might start causing trouble in East Africa to prevent this from happening. Regime change is how they cause the crisis.
And that is why they took him out -the powers that be
Hahaha, I dont think any government in the world is still use the gold standard.Anyway, I would hope that we make sure that there is sustainable political stability in the region first. It take one stubborn leader to have the monetary system break down. It will be interesting to see how the currency would look like.
That's progress. A game changer for economies and trade.
Mind game. The idea is good, then what for what. Just like Jesus is coming soon
The most recent reports online is that the M23 has pledged to withdraw from the territories it occupies and observe a ceasefire. The East African Community Forces are taking up the positions from the M23. There is growing good will in the entire EAC. What we in Kenya need to ensure is that this EAC regional bloc will be an instrument of PEACE, STABILITY, SECURITY and good economic development for the entire region. In other words that this EAC body will be a force of good to all the tribes and communities that live there in.