This proposal is among resolutions of the roundtable meeting for chief executive officers of apex national private sector associations convened by the East African Business Council (EABC) on Tuesday in Nairobi.

EABC CEO John-Bosco Kalisa said that an EAC COVID-19 vaccination certificate would enable mutual recognition and elimination of current transaction costs of COVID-19 testing and boost intra-EAC trade, travel and tourism.

He commended high-level bilateral engagements reached by EAC Heads of State for resolving non-tariff barriers (NTBs), as the Kenya-Tanzania bilateral engagement has resolved 72 NTBs. Amending NTBs legislation to include sanctions and clear timelines to resolve existing NTBs was equally necessary, he stated..

Carole Kariuki, CEO of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) said that KEPSA rolled out a COVID-19 vaccination drive for companies and EABC has now agreed to undertake similar drives across the EAC partner states.

Closer private sector collaboration in marketing and boosting the competitiveness of ‘Made in East Africa’ products to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market was also discussed, she stated.

EABC chairman Nick Nesbitt said the EAC bloc is the most integrated regional economic community in Africa, and would be consolidated by the vaccine roll-out strategy for the region.

Francis Kisirinya, acting CEO for the Private Sector Foundation of Uganda (PSFU) called for deeper public-private dialogue within countries and at the regional level to ensure that policies are increasingly business-centered.

Nshimirimana Denis, secretary general of the Federal Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Burundi (CFCIB) urged support for ‘Buy East African, Build East Africa’ campaigns to boost intra-EAC trade.

EABC board director Mary Ngechu said SMEs compose over 80 per cent of businesses in the region, thus combating COVID-19 calls for structured engagement for SMEs at country and regional levels to inform policies, scaling up their contribution to recovery efforts.

Ngechu called for consolidation and aggregation of SMEs to boost product volumes and leverage on regional and continental value chains.

Trademark East Africa senior private sector technical advisor Waturi Matu recommended uniform implementation of COVID-19 protocols and amicable solutions to re-open closed borders in the EAC zone.

Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) CEO Francis Nanai stated that sensitization on the benefits of the AfCFTA is important following its recent ratification by Tanzania.

Juma Charles of the South Sudan Chambers of Commerce Industries and Agriculture said that the chamber was engaging the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of that country to implement the country’s commitments under the EAC Customs Union Protocol.

The removal of visa fees for Uganda and Kenya by South Sudan shall enable the free movement of persons, goods and services, he pointed out.

The roundtable meeting agreed to hold quarterly engagements to address new and chronic trade issues and share ideas on best practices, appreciating the goodwill shown by the EAC Secretary-General on the issue.

The secretariat is working to steer private sector-led integration via the EAC-EABC technical working group, he stated. EAC partner states need to amend article 24 of the customs union protocol to operationalise the EAC trade remedies committees tasked to resolve trade disputes, he added.

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