Published Date: 18th-June 2007
NEWS ANALYSIS
A momentous page will be laid today in the history of regional communities as Rwanda and Burundi officially join one of the oldest African regional economic communities: the East African Community (EAC).
The two neighbouring and brotherly nations receive their formal admission into the revived EAC when the ninth East African Heads of State Summit sits in Kampala, Uganda.
The admission date was brought forward from July 1 which had been earlier set by the EAC Secretariat last year.
It will be the last step in the proverbial journey of 1,000 steps that Rwanda set out on way back in the 1990s to gain admission in this 90-year-old bloc.
Rwanda applied to join the EAC bloc in 1996.
In 1999, its application reportedly caused a heated debate during a preparatory meeting attended by foreign ministers from Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, the three original members of the community.
Supported only by Uganda, the proposal to bring Rwanda on board at the time was reportedly defeated since it was deemed not possible to admit new members at that stage when procedures for doing so were not yet in place.
Rwanda went back and used the time to fix what was required of it to qualify for the bloc’s membership. The full membership status in the regional bloc guarantees Rwanda and Burundi voting rights as well as total participation in every programme pertaining to the EAC.
Among Rwanda’s selling points, observers in the region say, has been the current peace and stability the country enjoys.
EAC history
The EAC boasts a long history which dates back to 1917, when Uganda and Kenya established a customs union.
Former Tanganyika - before it later merged with Zanzibar to form Tanzania - joined ten years later. But the actual East Africa Community was formed 40 years later in 1967.
Ten years after its formation, the community was disbanded because of political differences among the three member states: Uganda was caught up in the Idd Amin dictatorship; Kenya went capitalist while Tanzania signed onto socialism.
It was however revived 30 years later in 1996 when the Heads of State of all the- Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania - signed a new agreement on trade.
And its full revival came in 2001 in the Tanzanian northern town of Arusha, which is also houses the community’s headquarters.
Reservations
Even when Tanzania and Kenya at one time stayed Rwanda’s request to join the EAC in 1996, there were reservations in some sections of Rwanda on what it would benefit from the bloc.
There were concerns as well that the country’s young economy risked unwarranted competition in the face of ferocious price and promotional offer wars waged by the more established EAC member states.
There were also fears that there had not been sufficient consultations to represent the will of Rwandans in the community, as a new group in the age old bloc.
As such, it appeared that there were no guarantees that this time the community would not crumble like before. And if it did, who apart from the Rwandan citizens would bear the brunt?
President Paul Kagame, in his monthly press conference in August last year, noted that Rwanda never rushed to join the community.
He said then that the country did not need to belong to several regional organisations but instead had to make priorities depending on where it stood to gain more both economically and socially.
“All the member countries must agree on reciprocity so that each EAC nation derives advantages,” he said.
Rwanda’s contribution
What does Rwanda bring on the EAC table? And what does it hope to benefit? It must be noted that it was largely the former concern that formed one of the hurdles whether or not to admit the country into the EAC fold.
Economic benefits seem to stand out every time the EAC is mentioned, and rightly so since the community is at the foremost an economic bloc. With the inclusion of Rwanda - and its neighbour to the southern Burundi - the region’s market will grow to about 120 million people.
The business community in the region is already warming up to these numbers. There is a shared view that this market and the resources in the five countries are enough to stimulate development in the region and transform it into one of the leading business destinations.
Former EAC Secretary General, Col. (rtd) Amanya Mushega, while addressing a consultative workshop on fast-tracking the political federation of the member countries, noted that Rwanda’s admission into the regional bloc would create more opportunities for the region and solve problems related to industrialisation by increasing the labour force.
For Rwandan business people, in particular, access to thousands of international goods and importing and exporting products through the ports of other community member states will be easier with reduced customs duties because of its membership in the bloc.
According to Mary Baine, the Commissioner General of Rwanda Revenue Authority, this will spur national and regional trade. With her booming tourism industry - a targeted area for the country’s economic development - Rwanda will also benefit from the single East African Tourist Visa since it will encourage new tourists to the region. In this context however, it will not be taking away more than it will be offering.
Owing to the fact that she shares the rare mountain gorilla with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, her efforts in conservation will come in handy seeing as it is that the population of these primates in Rwanda has grown from 324 to 358 according to recent estimates.
Gorillas, and more
And Rwanda can talk about gorillas, and far much more. Compared to her sister countries in the region, it has a more elaborate Information Communication Technology (ICT) policy and is aggressive in science and technological development. That it is reputed to be on track to becoming the region’s ICT hub is without doubt.
Recently, the country scooped two awards for using ICTs in fulfilling public service delivery functions. The Technology in Government in Africa (Tiga) awards were organised by UN Economic Commission for Africa (Uneca) with support from the Canadian Policy Resource Centre in training African policymakers.
Yonasani Kanyomozi, a Ugandan representative in the EAC Legislative Assembly, acknowledges this advancement and states that Rwanda stand better chances than any other country in exploiting ICT opportunities in the EAC. “They [Rwanda] have concentrated concretely on science and technology.
If the other countries do not take heed, we shall lose everything to Rwanda.” In an era where ICT seems the soul of everything, Rwanda’s expertise will help other countries in the bloc put their ICT houses in order.
Tied to ICT is the country’s Karisimbi Power which will bring in place computer aided broadcasting. According to information from Rwanda Gateway, Karisimbi Tower will enable Rwanda receive television signals from as far as Zambia, Botswana, South Africa and Togo with ease.
The country will also possess a 1000Kms of VHF coverage boosted with the use of satellites and the accompanying mono-pulse radar. “International broadcasting and telecommunication companies are already looking at the Karisimbi (Project) as a way to boost their signals in the region.
There is no doubt Karisimbi Project will become an absolute gateway to better connectivity in the region,” reads information on the Gateway site.
In addition, with necessary support, Rwanda could be the solution to the energy needs that seem to beset the region. According to the Ministry of Energy and Communication, methane gas deposits in Lake Kivu amount to about 55 billion cubic metres. When this is extracted and processed, says State Minister for Energy and Communication, Eng. Albert Butare, it comes to more than 700 megawatts of energy supply which is far beyond what Rwanda needs. The good news is that the country has already expressed willingness to export, or even share.
Strategic location, exemplary leadership. Rwanda is geographically Africa’s heartbeat. Besides the aforementioned assets, Rwanda’s central location has already been identified by Uneca as one of the strategic points to connect Africa.
The country is already reaping from this location. According to Dr Laurent Mbanda, the vice president of Compassion Africa, Kigali City was chosen for the organisation’s headquarters because of its easy access to most parts of the continent.
The EAC stands in line to benefit from this location as much. Rwanda will also contribute exemplary leadership to the region and lessons in recovery. The country has succeeded in curbing corruption when its neighbours have been sucked into the vice.
For all the mayhem the 1994 Genocide bore on the country, it is surprising to see today that Rwanda has pulled to the front lane with the rest of her neighbours, well almost. Such experiences will be invaluable to the EAC bloc.
What the country will put on the table however does not dispel legitimate fears.
One of these lies in the political federation. Because of its past, there are concerns that its nascent stability might be affected by the vigorous reorganisation of the political arena, since as it is internal politics themselves are still setting.
While the East African Court of Justice might come in handy in Rwanda’s unique efforts of reconciliation and bringing to justice people suspected of committing Genocide crimes, it remains to be seen other partner states will buy into such situations that are specifically unique to it.
The country faces a challenge of taking on the EAC without letting go of the good chips it holds.
Written by GEORGE KAGAME
The New Times
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