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| Pandemic containment measures negatively impacted free movement |
ARUSHA (Tanzania), Jan 20 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Uganda was the only country in the East African Community region to record a trade increase of 4.6 per cent in 2020, a year when the average economic growth for the entire region declined to as low as 2.3 per cent from 5.4 per cent in 2019.
In general, EAC member states lost $3.36 billion worth of trade in the year when the Covid-19 pandemic spread like bushfire, cutting global trade links and pushing regional and global economies into total lockdowns, according to the latest draft report on EAC Trade and Investment for 2020.
The report shows that the total investment in the region declined by almost 46.29 per cent in 2020.
Overall trade for the six-member states Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, Kenya, and South Sudan, dropped by 6.08 per cent to $51.91 billion in the period, from $55.27 billion in 2019.
In the six years between 2015 and 2020, the region lost about $1.54 billion (three per cent) of its trade to $51.91 billion from $53.45 billion in 2015, the report says.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic containment measures imposed by regional governments negatively impacted the free movement of goods and persons. Unprecedented long queues of trucks were witnessed in borders due to long periods of waiting for COVID-19 test results by truck drivers.
Those who tested positive to COVID-19 were denied entry into neighbouring partner states,” said Peter Mathuki, EAC Secretary-General. — NNN-AGENCIES
