Financial support from Germany to the East African Community (EAC) would from now largely focus on improved trade integration of the bloc.

Another key priority would be on technical cooperation, it emerged during last week’s talks between the two sides.

“The cooperation will continue in many areas with more focus on implementation to achieve tangible results”, said Dr Kirsten Focken, the cluster coordinator of GIZ-EAC Programme based in Arusha.

She said during a meeting to plan the next phase of development support to EAC by the European economic powerhouse that new projects have to benefit regional integration.

“We have to come up with clear and smart project objectives, outputs and indicators for the next phase of cooperation,” she said. The fourth phase of the multimillion euro EAC-GIZ Support Programme comes to an end in the middle of next year.

The planning process for a new phase of the programme started last September with a series of appraisal meetings by the consultants.

EAC deputy secretary general (Productive and Social Sectors) Christophe Bazivamo said the long-standing German support to the bloc’s integration would continue.

“Implementation of the Customs Union and continued implementation of the Common Market will remain the core areas of support and cooperation,” he told the meeting.

The support in the next phase of the programme would focus on economic sectors through regional cooperation and improved trade integration.

According to the EAC secretary general, Amb Liberat Mfumukeko, Germany had supported the EAC to the tune of 290 million euros in the last two decades.

The support include the construction of the EAC headquarters in Arusha and capacity building for the East African Business Council (EABC), the apex body of the private sector associations in the region.

Recently, the two sides finalized an agreement of 5 million euros from Germany to support to support the small and micro enterprises sector in East Africa.

On April 9, this year, the two sides signed a financing agreement of five million euros for the EAC Scholarship Programme.

The programme will be implemented in collaboration with Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) and the German Development Bank, KfW.

Source: The Citizen