Many programmes of the East African Community (EAC) have stalled due to cash crunch blamed on non-remittance of dues by the member states amounting to over $40 million. Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have consistently paid up their dues hence keeping the secretariat and other organs running though much more should be done. The budget for the 2023/2024 as approved by EALA stands at $103,842,880 but 40 percent of the budget is yet to be funded. This shows that the commitments and pledges made by our countries in the region are not honoured, meaning that we cannot fund our programmes and projects on our own. It was the great philosopher Aristotle who opined that three things matter arranged in that order: politics, money/capital and education. Chinese Philosopher Confucius would say later that “money is like a sixth sense without which the other five senses cannot be used properly”. Both scholars underscored the importance of money and capital in personal and international development arena. The non-remittance comes at a time when the African Economic Outlook report published by the African Development Bank shows that the East Africa economy is projected to grow at 4.9 percent more than triple the 1.5 percent growth rate recorded last year. In 2025, the region economy will grow by 5.7 percent, one percentage higher than the next closest region – that of Central African Region. East African region is therefore on course to topple West Africa as the fastest growing region on the continent despite multiple headwinds.
In short, EAC is rich and can comfortably fund its own affairs with some commitments and innovation. Other alternatives should be explored for funding the EAC budget. One, EAC members should be able to make standing pledges to the EAC block which can only be reviewed upwards, honour and pay their commitments and even increase; the European Union (EU) funds 90 percent of its budget from member contributions. Secondly, EAC key structures should engage the High-Net-Worth Individuals (HNWI’s) within its borders or within Africa to supplement the member states contribution. In 2013 for example, it was found that the EAC region had 55 richest persons whose combined net worth was $ 143.8 billion, which was 3.5 times the combined budget of the region that year. Thirdly, the EALA should legislate and come up with supportive legal and policy framework for universal funding mechanisms for the block. Fourthly, EAC should operationalize partnerships, joint ventures, grants systems, donations and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in key sectors and programmes to accelerate growth and reduce budget deficits. Dr Giti is an urban management, public – private partnerships (PPP) and environment specialist. mutegigiti@gmail.com , @danielgiti
Dr. Daniel Mutegi Giti 