The East African Community has been urged to market the region as a single destination, even as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) takes shape.
Tourism, financial sector, manufacturing and hospitality are some of the sectors that EAC member states can package together to the world, the East African Business Council (EABC) now says.
Chairperson Angelina Ngalula said there is need to market the region as a single investment destination, by showcasing and reinforcing the bloc's comparative and competitive advantage.
“East African countries have abundant resources with unique features from the coast of the Indian Ocean in Kenya and Tanzania, to mountain gorillas in Rwanda, an opportunity for companies to offer regional tourism packages,” Ngalula said in a stamen yesterday.
Improving the quality and competitiveness of products and services is one of the top priorities chairperson Ngalula seeks to spearhead.
This is in an effort to reposition East African business to seize opportunities availed by the 1.3 billion African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA).
Other priorities are improving the performance of EAC transport corridors and eliminating persistent Non-Tariff Barriers.
EABC chief executive John-Bosco Kalisa urged governments to liberalise the region’s airspace to reduce the cost of tickets and cargo freight costs, as well as boost the volume of air cargo exports outside the region.
His sentiments are in line with Kenya’s Tourism and Wildlife Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala’s calls on African countries to embrace and implement the open skies policy to boost the continent's aviation industry.
They should stop protecting national carriers if the continent is to realise growth in the aviation industry and compete with carriers from other parts of the world, Balala says.
These are mainly the Gulf and European carriers which have a sizable market share of the continent's traffic.
The Kenyan minister has been advocating for implementation of the 1999 Pan-African treaty on liberalization of access to air transport markets, the Yamoussoukro Decision, which was coiled towards addressing shortcomings in the continent's aviation industry.
On the AfCFTA, Kenya has listed 14 merchandise and service sectors for trade under the continental pact.
It is among the first to pilot the trade pact alongside Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Rwanda and Tanzania.
Ngalula lauded the EAC Heads of State for their commitment and goodwill to improve the business environment and boost intra-EAC trade.
This is evidenced by the opening of the Gatuna/Katuna border, admission of the DR Congo and ratification of AfCFTA among others.
