The government has said that Tanzania’s ratification of the East African Community (EAC) Monetary Union Protocol on June 25th 2014 demonstrates that the country is not a stumbling block to regional integration.

The Deputy Minister for East African Cooperation Hon. Dr Abdulla Saadalla said in Dodoma recently that Tanzania became the first country to endorse the instrument, making a big step ahead of its EAC peers.

“We have made a huge step and demonstrated our commitment to EAC regional integration. We are not by any means a stumbling block to the regional integration,” Dr Abdulla said.

The next step is to dispatch the instrument of ratification to the EAC Secretary General by the clerk of Tanzanian National Assembly as required by the treaty for establishment of East African Community.

During debating on the Protocol, majority of MPs said that it was the right time to enter into third stage of EAC integration process as Tanzania is closer and thriving to lead in macro-economic convergence criteria.

He said some Members of parliament had reservations on the ratification of the protocol especially due to geo-politics dynamism and creation of the so called Coalition of the Willing (CoW) but economic indicators convinced them that the country was on right track to economic supremacy.

“We are consistent in our commitments to meet and maintain all macro-economic convergence criteria stipulated in the protocol. We are reaping the benefits of sound economic policies no wonder we are among the top ten countries in Africa with an average of 7% GDP growth per annum,” the deputy minister said.

He said MPs were also convinced by the output generated by the government’s newly created strategy-Big Results Now (BRN).

Monetary Union Protocol is the third stage of EAC integration which will ultimately lead the five-member bloc to adopt a single currency regime by 2024.

The EAC-MU was signed by the EAC Heads of State on November 30, 2013 in Kampala Uganda during the 15th Ordinary Summit. The protocol will provide for a wide scope of co-operation in monetary and financial sectors among EAC members.

Source: East African Business Week

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