The east african community (eac) essay

The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental economic cooperative consisting of the three East African countries of Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. These countries were under the British colonial rule before gaining independence One of the purposes of the treaty was to keep intact cooperative regional trade as mandated under British rule. The East African Federation, an earlier attempt to form a cooperative, failed to get off the ground in 1964 because of strong nationalism and the diverging economic and political priorities of the countries. By June 1967 these differences were set aside and the Treaty for East African Cooperation was signed, creating the East African Community. A long-term goal of the EAC was to establish an East African common market.

East Africa is a country in financial ruins. The main countries that comprise East African Community have failed to develop financially and socially due to a variety of reasons and yet, these countries are still the best bets for options and strategies that will help reformulate and make the East African Community a successful organization. Any discussion as to what is causing the death spiral that is gripping the East African communities must include and in depth look into the poverty that afflicts the land. Due to the seemingly unsolvable poverty problem, the country also continues to crumble under the intense pressure of growth rate, education/literacy rate, interest rate, exchange rate, resources, exports and imports, health, and political concerns.

The East African (EA) Countries cover an area of 1. 8 million square kilometers with a combined population of about 100 million (July 2005 estimate). The three countries are relatively prosperous compared to their war-torn neighbors like Congo and Southern Sudan. Nevertheless, these countries are faced with several issues on population, literacy/education, health, political, and economic chaos that mainly attributed to poverty that probably caused the break up of EAC. East Africa is not a lost cause. This is why a journal such as the East Africa Journal will be an important tool in reaching out to local and foreign investors in an effort to promote tourism and trade in the region.

The purpose of the EAC and the hoped-for common market was to promote, strengthen, and regulate common industrial and commercial developments. This was to be accomplished by cooperative and regulated development and trade. The economic results of this policy would be shared equally by all member states. Academics and students on the other hand will appreciate the calculations and theories for country development that will be featured in the Journal. They will learn first hand about a country that seems helpless can be successfully turned around once the inhabitants of the country put their minds to it. History: We begin the journal with a historical presentation regarding how the East African Community came into being. This historical aspect will highlight how the countries came out of being a occupied territory of the British, to a strong and vibrant economy from 1995-1996 and then continue to discuss the reasons the growth stagnated leading to its subsequent decline. The East African Community (EAC): The EAC being one of the longest regional integration has moved from circumstantial to co-operation and now intentional community.

This section introduces us to the situations that have led to the many incarnations of the East African Community organizations starting with the East African Circumstantial Community and its current incarnation, the East African Community all the way to the treaties signed by the East African Cooperation. Consequently, the treaty established the East African Community with a common Market as an integral part of the community and it came to force on December 1, 1967. AIMS OF EAC: In this section of the journal, an analysis as to how the EAC functions and what needs to be done to strengthen and regulate the business sectors it over sees was done. We learned how the EAC views tax measures and what benefits may be expected once the community is formally established with participating members. Structural Organization: Each organization has a specific structure that helps it to function as an organization with a direction and ambitions with a timetable for achieving it. This is why it is very important that all businessmen and scholars read about the main organs that comprises the East African Community. Problems: As we all know the EAC has disintegrated due to various problems that beset it from the very start.

This is why it is highly imperative that these problems and mistakes in the organizational structure are investigated, proven, and eventually, a solution can be found to he situation. Plans for the Future: The EAC agreed on a customs union, and plans to launch a common market for its population of about 90 million by 2010. The countries also plan to have a monetary union in 2009 and a common president and parliament by 2010. With this in mind, it is imperative that the EAC progressively develop the departments and agencies that will oversee the development of the EAC. Therefore these people and offices will community perform and act within the limits of the powers conferred upon them under the EAC treaty RECOMMENDATION It is never easy to watch any country back slide from such a promising start into a state of chaos from which there seems to be no turning back. Through this meticulously researched, diagrammed, and discussed journal, the writer encourages his readers to rise to the challenge of turning the East African Communities around by investing in their own country.

It does not have to be a financial investment. It can be anything as simple as investing personal time in researching ways and means of raising the country out of the quagmire it is in right now and they spreading the word amongst people who will help make a difference in the country.