“The private sector has continued to face numerous challenges which the assembly is best placed to address,” said Mr Mwine Kabeho, the vice chairman of the body.

He made the remarks during consultations when a high-powered delegation of the council visited the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) in Arusha earlier this week.

Mr Kabeho, who is the director of the Uganda-based Madhvani Group Limited, said hurdles such as trade barriers within the East African Community (EAC) hampered fast tracking of integration programmes.

These, according to him, include the unresolved issue of non-trade barriers (NTBs) and failure to harmonise domestic taxes.

Others are the high cost of air travel and telecommunications in the region despite repeated calls that they be lowered to reduce the cost of doing business.

Two months ago, EABC expressed its concern over falling intra-regional trade in the community and called for concerted efforts to reverse the trend.

Statistics indicate that intra-EAC trade declined by 10.1 per cent between 2013 and 2014 and by a further 14.6 per cent between 2015 and 2016, largely due to persistent NTBs and restrictions on exports of certain products.

EABC ambassador and former Eala member from Kenya Peter Mathuki noted during the discussions that it was time the two institutions worked closely together when seeking solutions to the problems.

“We have to resolve many issues for a stronger integration and for prosperity’s sake,” he pointed out.

Eala Speaker Martin Ngoga said both institutions would fully engage with the private sector in a framework to be operationalised next month.

“There is something we need to bring to fruition so that we can strategise together and regularly consult on key matters of integration,” he said.

He lauded the regional private sector body for being the major driving force and engine of the desired economic integration in the region.

The recently elected EABC chairperson, Mr Nicholas Nesbitt, reiterated that the body would align itself with relevant institutions to discuss how to do away with problems hindering integration.

EABC is the apex body of business associations of the private sector and corporate entities from the six EAC member states.

It was established in 1997 to foster the interests of the private sector in the EAC integration process.

Originally comprising members from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, its membership was expanded after 2007 to include the private sectors of Burundi and Rwanda as well as South Sudan in 2017.

Eala, on the other hand, is an EAC organ established in 2001 with a mandate of legislation, representation and oversight.

Source: The Citizen