By Business Insider Reporter
The East African Community (EAC) has convened a two-day high-level Multisectoral Dialogue in Kigali, Rwanda, in a renewed push to dismantle persistent trade barriers that continue to constrain intra-regional commerce and slow the bloc’s integration agenda.
Bringing together senior technical and policy officials from all eight Partner States, the forum is tasked with identifying operational bottlenecks, evaluating existing trade facilitation measures and agreeing on concrete, time-bound actions to accelerate the full implementation of the Customs Union and Common Market.
A persistent integration gap
The dialogue comes against a sobering backdrop: despite nearly two decades of legal and institutional reforms under the Customs Union (launched in 2005) and the Common Market (2010), intra-EAC trade has stagnated at around 15 per cent of total trade for more than a decade.
By contrast, internal trade accounts for roughly 60 percent within the European Union and about 40 per cent in parts of Asia. Analysts estimate that East Africa’s intra-regional trade could reach between 30 and 50 percent if structural and operational constraints were removed.
While total regional trade has grown – from US$6.42 billion in 2016 to US$15.25 billion in 2024, according to EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva – the share of trade conducted within the bloc has risen only marginally, from 11.5 percent to 12.2 percent over the same period.
This indicates that EAC economies remain heavily dependent on external markets, even as leaders promote deeper regional self-reliance.
Non-Tariff Barriers: The real obstacle
A central theme of the Kigali meeting is the persistence of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), which businesses frequently cite as the single biggest impediment to cross-border trade.
These include discriminatory domestic taxes and charges, duplicative inspections, inconsistent application of Rules of Origin, and sanitary and phytosanitary measures that often delay goods at borders.
Rwanda’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Prudence Sebahizi, said the dialogue underscores the region’s commitment to moving from policy design to effective implementation.
His remarks were echoed by Rwanda’s Minister of State in charge of EAC Affairs, Yusta Kayitesi, who warned that NTBs inflate transaction costs, disrupt supply chains and erode private-sector confidence in the EAC as a rules-based market.
Participants are expected to examine stronger enforcement mechanisms, clearer escalation procedures to the Council and Summit, and the operationalisation of regional trade remedies to address politically sensitive NTBs that have lingered for years.
Logistics, digital gaps and border delays
Beyond NTBs, structural inefficiencies in transport and digital systems continue to weigh on competitiveness.
High logistics costs, uneven implementation of One-Stop Border Posts (OSBPs), and incomplete operationalisation of the Single Customs Territory have resulted in avoidable delays and increased compliance burdens.
The meeting is also reviewing progress under the One Network Area initiative for telecommunications and the broader digital integration agenda. Limited interoperability and weak real-time data exchange between customs systems frequently lead to duplication and inconsistent border procedures.
For manufacturers and exporters – particularly in agro-processing and light industry – these inefficiencies translate directly into higher production costs and reduced regional competitiveness.
Industrialisation and inclusion challenges
Officials are also confronting deeper structural issues, including slow services liberalisation, weak industrialisation, low levels of value addition and underperforming Special Economic Zones (SEZs).
With climate risks increasingly affecting agricultural output and supply chains, the need for coordinated regional responses is growing more urgent. The dialogue is expected to emphasise the importance of youth and women in expanding participation in regional trade and fostering inclusive growth.
