The Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) has urged East African Community member states to remove non-tariff barriers and protectionist policies that continue to make it difficult for businesses to trade across the region.
PSFU chairman Humphrey Nzeyi said inconsistent policies, differences in bank interest rates and restrictions on the movement of workers are among the challenges slowing down regional trade and economic growth.
Nzeyi was speaking at the annual Regional Industrialisation Conference held at Serena Hotel in Kampala under the theme, “Unlocking Industrial Competitiveness through Innovation and Regional Value Chain Integration.”
He said East African countries must create a business environment where companies can trade freely across borders instead of protecting their domestic markets at the expense of regional integration.
“Trade must be inclusive to all EAC member states,” Nzeyi said, urging governments to review policies that make it difficult for businesses to operate across national borders.
He said businesses also face difficulties because borrowing costs differ from one country to another, making it harder for companies to compete on an equal footing.
Nzeyi called for greater harmonisation of financial and trade policies across the region, while noting that the private sector plays an important role in creating jobs, increasing production and contributing to national economic growth.
He also called on EAC member states to make it easier for citizens of the region to work in other member countries without unnecessary restrictions.
“We want people of East Africa to freely work in any country without the requirement for work permits,” he said.
Nzeyi urged EAC governments to identify and remove policies that favour local businesses at the expense of companies from other member states, saying such measures undermine the purpose of regional integration.
The EAC is made up of Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, with the region seeking to deepen trade and economic cooperation among member states.
Speaking at the same conference, the minister of Trade and Cooperatives Sanjay Tanna urged EAC countries to stop viewing each other mainly as competitors and instead market the region as one economic and tourism destination.
Tana said every country in the region has unique attractions and products that can contribute to the growth of the wider East African economy.
“Each country in the region has something unique that can attract tourists,” he said, pointing to Uganda’s River Nile, mountain gorillas and Murchison Falls as examples of attractions that can draw visitors to the region.
He urged Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and other EAC member states to jointly promote East Africa as a single tourism destination.
“We should make East Africa one tourism centre. It is high time that Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and other member states market East Africa together because this will benefit all of us,” Tanna said.
He also encouraged other EAC countries to increase trade with Uganda, saying the country has expanded its manufacturing capacity and is now producing a wider range of goods for both regional and international markets.
Tanna said Uganda should no longer be viewed mainly as an exporter of traditional agricultural products such as maize and beans because its industrial sector has grown significantly.
“Gone are the days when Uganda had only maize and beans. Today, Uganda is a manufacturing hub in terms of many products and we now have the capacity to export goods to the rest of the world,” he said.
The minister called on businesses across the region to take advantage of Uganda’s growing manufacturing sector and work together to strengthen regional value chains.
“Let us trade together,” he said.
