The intergovernmental organisation now has seven member states which include Uganda, the Republic of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Somalia last applied to join the EAC bloc in 2017 after its initial application was rejected a year earlier over political volatility.
President Tshisekedi reiterated that the EAC should establish a regional agency that will protect and regulate the exploitation of natural resources in the region, and should be based in his country.
The Kenyan government subsidises the price of fuel by about 600 Uganda shillings per litre, and has the authority to set the maximum price under the Petroleum Act of 2019.
Most of all the petroleum products in Uganda are imported directly from the international market, and are only transported through Kenya.
To start trading, the countries are supposed to surrender at least 90 per cent of the tariff lines (goods that will have tariffs removed or liberalized), while the rest of the goods considered sensitive may have their tariffs either removed later or retained for their protection.
The business community in the region stands to be the main beneficiary if the opportunities posed by the expansion are fully taken advantage of, according to Peter Mathuki, the EAC Secretary-General. This was reechoed by the East African Business Council, which said that with the admission of DR Congo, the region had now become one of the most attractive trading blocs.
UNRA are now re-engineering the section to come up with a lasting solution, not ruling out the possibility of raising some sections of the wetland with bridges other than the existing culverts.
Over 1,500 passengers leave daily via Entebbe Airport with the full resumption of Uganda's economy and easing of travel restrictions as part of the COVID-19 containment measures.
The countries adopted the EAC Tariff Offer for Category A products amounting to 90.2 percent to be liberalized in 10 years after the start of trading under the AfCFTA.
In June last year, the IMF Board approved a relief package for Uganda under the Extended Credit Facility worth 1 billion dollars over three years. Of this, 258 million US Dollars or 908 billion Shillings, was to be disbursed immediately to help the country meet the financing gap caused by emergency reallocation of resources.
According to the report, communities are now cutting girls as young as one year before they enter school. For instance, in neighbouring Kenya, the practice is now being carried out on nine-year-old girls down from 12-year-olds previously while in West African countries like Gambia and Nigeria, the practice has dropped by two years.In Gambia, for instance, the average age for cutting has dropped from age four to two and from three years to one in Nigeria.
According to the WHO Africa region office, the African continent has so far received more than 587 million vaccine doses;58 percent through the COVAX Facility, 36percent from bilateral deals and percent through the Africa Vaccines Acquisition Trust (AVAT) of the African Union. In January 2022, 96 million doses were shipped to Africa, which is more than double that of six months ago. However, despite such vaccine stocks, countries are still not vaccinating. So far, only 11 percent of the people on the continent are vaccinated
Tanzania's Director for African Affairs, Naimi Sweetie Aziz admits that there are several outstanding issues between the two countries that must be resolved for the sake of the people.
On the issue of non-trade barriers, Minister Mulimba says there is need for proper coordination between ministries, departments and agencies of the governments.
The meeting resolved that negative Covid-19 test results from national accredited laboratories in the respective EAC Partner States be recognized by all national authorities.
The ministers also agreed that the countries EAC should implement the EACPASS for prompt verification of Covid-19 test results and vaccination certificates.
One such commitment is the mutual recognition of the COVID-19 test results by the countries provided the test is done from within a member country by an accredited laboratory. However, some of the partner states, including Uganda, are reverting to their national policies in the wake of a sharp rise in new infections.
Covilyce-1 herbal medicine was created by scientists at the Faculty of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Studies (Pharm-Biotech), backed by over 200 herbalists from the Acholi sub-region to treat COVID-19. the drug, they say, can cure COVID-19 patients within 72 hours of administering.
