Arusha, 28 November 2019 – Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda and Chair of the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers, Dr. Vincent Biruta, addressed the High Level East African Business and Investment Summit that took place in Arusha from 28 -29 November 2019. Professor Palamagamba Kabudi, Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, United Republic of Tanzania officially opened the Business Summit on behalf of H.E John Pombe Joseph Magufuli.

Themed: EAC at 20: Private Sector Driven Regional Integration for Increased Intra-EAC Trade and Investments, the  high-level business summit was held to set the economic agenda and outlook for East Africa, as the region commemorates 20 years of the EAC integration process. The overarching goal of the summit was to enable the private sector to meet high-level policy decision-makers from East Africa and beyond in order to influence policy reforms and implementation to improve the business environment in the EAC region.

In his address, Minister Dr. Vincent Biruta thanked the different private sector umbrella bodies at the national level, for working hand in hand with the EABC and mobilizing stakeholders in their respective countries for joining them. He said that the event would allow taking stock of achievements, impediments and future prospects for the region, based on progress made in the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols, against a backdrop of continental and global developments of all kinds. He said: ‘’the holding of this East African Business and Investment Summit is timely, as our discussions will focus on how to unlock the bottlenecks to regional trade and investment, and identify actions to achieve this goal. This is also an opportune time for the East African Business Council to support the process of integrating the region economically into the continent, through the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which will officially start on July 1st 2020’’.

Minister Biruta added: ‘’as a region, we have a lot to rejoice in, but even more to look forward to. According to recent reports of the UN Economic Commission for Africa, EAC is the fastest integrating regional bloc on the African continent. This is attributed to tremendous achievements in the implementation of commitments, applicable to the Customs Union and Common Market Protocols’’.

The High Level East African Business and Investment Summit (EABIS) was jointly organized by the East Africa Business Council, the East Africa Community Secretariat and Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, among others.  

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