The East African Community (EAC), with a population of about 168.2 million and a combined GDP of US$ 155.2 billion is one of Africa’s fastest-growing regional blocs. Growth in the EAC is driven by an agro-processing and exports, says EAC Trade and Investment Report 2018.
According to the report, the export sector is dominated by tea, coffee, and horticulture.
Rwanda’s economy experienced the highest growth in the Region expanding by 8.6 percent in 2018 up from 6.2 percent in 2017. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda also grew by 6.3 percent, 6.9 percent, and 5.6 percent in 2018 up from 4.9 percent, 6.8 percent, and 4.8 percent in 2017, respectively.
Exports to EAC and SADC amounted to US$ 3.1 billion and US$ 1.9 billion, respectively in 2018. This signified the growing importance of the EAC and SADC markets. The main products exported by the Region included agricultural products especially maize, sugar, rice, coffee, and tea as well as manufactured goods.
Total EAC imports grew by 19.2 percent to US$ 38.3 billion in 2018 from US$ 32.2 billion in 2017. Imports from the EU amounted to US$ 4.3 billion and accounted for about 11.3 percent, while imports from the rest of the world declined but still constituted 44.3 percent of total imports.
The composition of EAC trade continued to be dominated by agricultural commodities, namely coffee, tobacco, cotton, rice, maize, and wheat flour.
EAC intra-regional imports grew by 13.9 percent to US$ 2.8 billion from US$ 2.5 billion in 2017 and accounted for 7.4 percent of total EAC imports. Kenya’s imports from the rest of the partner states continued the growth experienced in the previous year.
Imports in Kenya grew by 14.7 percent to US$ 676.5 million. The increase was, to a large extent, driven by higher imports from Uganda and Tanzania. Imports from Uganda were mainly milk, dry beans and raw materials for the preparation of animal feeds.
