ARUSHA (Tanzania), Nov 26 (NNN-DAILYNEWS) — Tanzanian Pres Samia Suluhu Hassan has appealed to fellow East African Community (EAC) leaders to expedite the removal of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) to bolster the prospects and fortunes of the regional economic community.
This was the only way of boosting people’s incomes and eventually promote the envisaged integration, according to Dr Samia, noting that NTBs were derailing the regional growth.
The President equally rooted for unity among EAC Partner States, even as the bloc welcomed the Federal Republic of Somalia as its newest member.
“We have a lot that unite us than what divide us, let us not allow ourselves to be divided by petty issues,” said the President while addressing the 23rd Ordinary Summit of EAC Heads of State, held at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in the city’s outskirts.
According to Dr Samia, the envisioned integration should benefit East Africans, urging fellow leaders to embrace unity.
Currently, the intra-regional trade stands at 27 per cent, far below from the 70 achieved by the European Union (EU).
In the same vein, the Tanzanian President thanked the outgoing EAC Chairman Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi on his one-year tenure of handling and running the businesses of the regional economic community.
“It is fair and square to say that we were in safe hands under your chairmanship as you enabled us to meet routinely and represented us well at different platforms,” she observed.
She equally wished the incoming EAC Chairman, President Salva Kiir from South Sudan best of luck, as he takes the reigns of the bloc.
The President also commended EAC Secretary General for making the Summit a reality, saying it should form a strong base as East Africans ready themselves for the forthcoming COP 28 Meeting, slated for Dubai.
She said: “It is very important to have a common voice and ground when heading to the meeting.”
Yesterday’s Summit was preceded by a High-Level Forum on Climate Change and Food Security.
Dr Samia also wished the people of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) well as they head to elections later this year.
Speaking earlier on, President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda rooted for prosperity, strategic security and brotherhood as the EAC craves for integration.
“Prosperity doesn’t come from government handouts or donors, it comes from the family, you cannot talk of a prosperous Africa without touching on market integration,” he added.
Reading out the Heads of State Communiqué, EAC Secretary General, Dr Peter Mathuki challenged countries that were yet to finalise collection of views on political confederation to expedite the process by June 14, next year.
Countries that are yet to do so include Tanzania, DRC, South Sudan and Uganda.
Meanwhile, Somali’s admission into the EAC sees the member states of the regional economic bloc add up to eight countries.
It comes a year after DRC was admitted into the bloc.
Somalia first expressed interest of joining the EAC in 2012, but was turned down due to its internal troubles with Al-Shabaab and lack of a stable legal and political environment at the time.
Yesterday, the Heads of State directed Somalia to submit instruments of ratification, six months after its admission. — NNN-DAILYNEWS
