Leaders of the previously five-nation regional grouping have put in place new rules under which private companies could be sanctioned if they are involved in corruption. The 17th leaders’ summit of the east African community (EAC) held in Arusha Tanzania endorsed a private sector “code of conduct and ethics” that sets high standards for companies. Companies will be required to “do what is right” to keep their businesses clean. Designed by technocrats from governments and private sector, the new rules also call for “ethical business practices” in Human rights, labour standards, and environment within the EAC partner states. In Rwanda, corruption has been on the back-banner as government maintains a tough stance on graft. Hundreds of officials have lost their jobs and gone to jail after they were implicated in corruption. Companies have lost their tenders when it emerged kickbacks had changes hands. Anti-graft group Transparency International in its annual corruption index has constantly maintained Rwanda at the top of the rankings. One of its top board members was in Rwanda last week to push for more measures, and the government seems a very willing partner. However, even if the assent by the regional leaders means the new EAC code becomes the norm across the bloc, it is not obligatory for companies to take part. Meanwhile, the summit also agreed on measures banning importation of used cars, clothes and shoes. Rwanda alone, imported 5,865 used vehicles between 2014 and July 2015, worth Rwf53 billion, according to the Rwanda Revenue Authority....

South Sudan has been accepted into the East African Community (EAC) ranks, increasing membership of the bloc to six with an estimated population of 162 million people. The four-year-old state was admitted following the 17th Ordinary East African Community Heads of State Summit in Arusha, Tanzania and the move is seen as a way of helping consolidate the stability of the region through trade. “South Sudan is a new member of the EAC,” said the EAC secretariat on its social media site on Wednesday. #EACSummit jumuiya South Sudan has now been admitted as the 6th Country in EAC today ! Now the market size is 162 million people in EAC!— Vimal Shah CBS (vimalafrica) March 2, 2016 The EAC previously had Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi, who have worked to develop and facilitate trade among its members. South Sudan became independent from Sudan in July 2011 but plunged into a civil war in 2013 when President Salva Kiir accused his vice President Riek Machar of plotting a coup. The war has severely affected the country’s economy: inflation, the collapse of its currency, and a reduction of over 50% of its oil production – by far its main resource – since independence. Job seekers from neighboring countries like Kenya have fled the nation as more than 2.3 million people have abandoned their homes while thousands have lost their lives. Source: Africa News

South Sudan is the newest addition to the East African Community (EAC). In the meantime the bloc has rejected Burundi’s bid for the EAC chairmanship for 2016. As leaders of the EAC met in Arusha in northern Tanzania, one man was conspicuously missing. Burundi's president, Pierre Nkurunziza, did not attend even though his country was bidding for the chairmanship of the bloc. The last time Nkurunziza attended an EAC summit, rebels staged a failed coup in his absence. The group however rejected Burundi's bid for this yearly chairmanship and instead decided to extend Tanzania's tenure under President John Magufuli into a second year. New member South Sudan The almost five-year-old country South Sudan is the newest addition to the group, which was previously made up of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. South Sudan gained its independence from the Republic of Sudan in mid-2011, but only two years later a political split threw the country back into a civil war. Leaders from nearly all EAC countries have played a role in the peace talks between South Sudan's president Salva Kiir and his former deputy Riek Machar. The two rival parties have now agreed upon a transitional government which is however still waiting to come into force. "South Sudan's membership of EAC is not strictly on economic benefits but has historical significance. EAC is where we belong," South Sudan's vice president James Wani Igga proclaimed. He said his country had wanted to be part of East Africa even before its independence....

South Sudan has been admitted as the 6th Country in East African Community (EAC), Rwanda Eye report. The inclusion of South Sudan was endorsed at the heads of state summit of the EAC, chaired by the Tanzanian leader John Pombe Magufuli on Wednesday. This will widen the market size of the region to a staggering 164 million people, a sizeable population capable of attracting billions of dollars in Foreign Direct Investments. South Sudan’s admission endorsed by the Heads-of-State meeting in Arusha, Tanzania on Wednesday ends several years of waiting to join the regional economic bloc comprising Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. EAC’s Growth Domestic Product is estimated at $134 billion. Experts say the move is good for South Sudan which has been struggling with a crumbling economy following a two-year devastating war. With a peace agreement in place and rebel leader Dr RiekMachar expected in Juba soon, the country’s growth prospects remain high. For a common market to be successful there must be a significant level of harmonisation of micro-economic policies, and common rules regarding monopoly power and other anti-competitive practices. Officials say the benefits of integration far outweigh any existing fears with strong trade ties being an important tool in enhancing peace and stability in Africa. Source: News of Rwanda

TANZANIA - War-torn South Sudan was admitted on Wednesday into the regional East African Community (EAC), the bloc said, which works to encourage trade and simplify customs duties between members. The EAC, based in the Tanzanian town of Arusha, now expands the bloc to six nations, alongside Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. Current EAC chairman, Tanzanian President John Magufuli, announced South Sudan's membership. With South Sudan's inclusion the EAC now covers over 150 million people. South Sudan won its independence in 2011 from Sudan after decades of war. Many South Sudanese said they should have joined the East Africa region -- rather than being tied to north Sudan -- when British colonial rulers left at independence in 1956. Despite euphoria at independence, South Sudan erupted into civil war in December 2013, setting off a cycle of retaliatory killings that have split the poverty-stricken, landlocked country along ethnic lines. It is struggling to stem runaway inflation, and many foreign workers from neighbouring nations have fled violence that has seen key cities razed. - AFP Source: eNCA

Sifelani Tsiko The 15-member SADC regional economic bloc is set to receive €1,6 billion (US$1,7 billion) from the European Union to accelerate the implementation of regional integration programmes and projects. This emerged after the EU signed a €4 485 million euros (US$4 948 million) technical co-operation facility with Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) recently in Zambia to support implementation of regional integration programmes for the Eastern Africa, Southern Africa and India Ocean (EA-SA-IO) region. Head of the European delegation to Zambia and special representative to Comesa Ambassador Alessandro Mariani and Comesa secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya signed the agreement. The €4 485 million would be shared among five regional economic communities — Comesa (€1,525 million), Southern African Development Community (€1,615 million), East African Community (€1,525 million), Intergovernmental Authority on Development (€1,435 million) and the Indian Ocean Commission (€900 000). “It is not an understatement that without the support of the EU, the achievements made by Comesa in regional integration would have been less than optimal. “Comesa already has a framework to ensure that we deliver time-bound results and demonstrate value for money for the facility,” said Ngwenya, the head of Comesa at the signing ceremony. Mariani said the funds would provide support for the studies sector, surveys, stakeholder consultations, communication, monitoring activities in various development areas such as trade integration, maritime security, wildlife and others. The funds are part of an overall of €1,3 billion provided by the EU under the 11th European Development Fund Regional Indicative (EDF) programme...

South Sudan has been admitted into the East African Community (EAC), increasing the membership of the common market to six with a population of 162 million people. The 17th Ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit in Arusha, Tanzania, resolved to admit Africa's newest nation into the economic bloc on Wednesday.

 “South Sudan is a new member of the EAC,” said the EAC secretariat on its social media site on Wednesday. A statement from EAC headquarters in Arusha before the announcement showed that the issue was at the top of the agenda at the meeting. It said the leaders would decide “on the negotiations on the admission of South Sudan into the community,” among other issues. South Sudan now joins Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi and it will be part of the regional integration projects that have been the subject of discussion among member countries. South Sudan applied for EAC membership soon after gaining its independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011, upon being invited by the presidents of Kenya and Rwanda.

 Source: Daily Nation

By Richard E. Mshomba The East African Legislative Assembly has been discussing the applications of Somalia and South Sudan to join the East African Community (EAC). Somalia and South Sudan do not meet the pre-requisites for membership. High up among the pre-requisites is "adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice." Although South Sudan received juridical statehood when it gained independence on July 9, 2011, it has been struggling to achieve empirical statehood. Somalia is also a failed state, this country, together with South Sudan should not be allowed to join the EAC at this point. In the last few years, nowhere has the dynamism of regional economic integration in Africa been more apparent than in the EAC. The EAC is planning to have a monetary union by 2023, with the ultimate goal of having a political federation. This aspiration to form a political federation goes beyond that of any other current regional bloc anywhere in the world. To stay focused on its goals, the EAC has so far been careful not to rush in accepting new members. It should continue to take this cautious approach, especially since it does not have a road map regarding how to help these applicants end their internal conflicts and establish good governance. Other countries that have applied to join the EAC are the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. It is interesting that South Sudan applied to join the EAC just...

By James Karuhanga Two days before the 17th ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit, 17 regional Civil Society Organisations have expressed concerns that the crisis in Burundi is not on the agenda of the upcoming EAC Heads of State Summit. An EAC communiqué announcing the Summit did not mention the Burundi crisis among the list of items to be considered by regional leaders when they meet. A joint statement issued Monday morning by Burundian Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and International Organisations to the Summit indicates that the groups are joining their voices "to address the EAC Heads of State." "We are deeply concerned that the Burundi crisis is not on the Agenda of the Summit despite the worsening situation and request that it be given due priority," reads part of the statement. "We urge the Summit to ensure implementation of the decisions taken by the three Extraordinary Summits on the situation in Burundi." Among others, the groups also call on the Summit to support the establishment of a credible investigative mechanism to independently examine all allegations of human rights violations in Burundi, as recommended by the Sub-Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) last November. The groups' joint statement was issued during their press conference in Arusha, Tanzania where EAC leaders are scheduled to meet, on Wednesday. "Ending the crisis in Burundi must remain a top priority for the Heads of State of the EAC, who are meeting later this...

By Jackson Kiraka As the East African Community summit convenes this month, it will be welcoming a new club member -- President John Magufuli, who swept into power, overcoming perhaps the most competitive of Tanzania's elections since the advent of multi-partyism. By winning comfortably, Mr Magufuli, then considered an outsider by CCM standards, proved wrong the prediction by pundits that the ruling party CCM would suffer what its sister party -- Kanu of Kenya -- had suffered back in 2002. Dr Magufuli seems to be winning his countrymen over. This is attributed to his sweeping, no-nonsense handling of issues of national importance. Hospital stores have been replenished and new equipment bought, under-performing administrators sacked, easy government lunches scrapped, and unnecessary travel banned. However, Dr Magufuli has yet to step out of his country as president. BIG BROTHER Dr Magufuli's broom, like that of his Nigerian counterpart, General Muhammadu Buhari, seems to be sweeping swift, furious, and wide. His message seems clear, though: That the government must deliver for Tanzanians. And that is a breath of fresh air, even by regional standards. Tanzania is not just any other country. It is not Burundi. It is as strategic as it is pivotal in the regional integration matrix. In terms of size, Tanzania is Kenya and Uganda combined, its resource base perhaps only comparable to the Democratic Republic of the Congo's. Tanzania can easily become the EAC's big brother -- if it chooses to be. In 1967, Tanzania's Julius Nyerere, Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta,...