Conan Businge
4 November 2008
Kampala — THE free movement of goods in East Africa has increased business, the East African Business Council (EABC) has said.
The council said there were several improvements in trade facilities according to a survey done at 12 border posts of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.
The improvements include security, infrastructure and time and cost taken to obtain immigration documents.
The study also showed that Kenya's exports to the EAC region were evenly distributed among Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
Uganda exported 36% of its goods to Rwanda, 25% to Tanzania and 21% to Burundi, the survey indicated.
In Uganda, companies reported that the EAC Customs Union increased their business turnover by 48%.
The survey also showed that informal trade across the borders was substantial.
In 2007, the total value of declared exports stood at $2b, while the value for imports was $32b.
"Trade worth $13m went unrecorded," the survey report added.
The report also indicated that electricity, fuel and transport costs still hindered business from taking full advantage of the union.
The head of the European Commission's Delegation in Uganda, Ambassador Vincent De Visscher, said Uganda's trade with its East African Community (EAC) partners increased by over 20% in the last three years.
"Negotiations for the EAC common market are making good progress," he said.
Visscher was speaking during a national trade sector review conference at Imperial Royale Hotel in Kampala on Thursday.
He was accompanied by the trade state minister, Gagawala Wambuzi, private sector's director for trade John Ssempebwa, and the director of Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kassim Omar.
The conference was held under the theme: "Trading out of poverty, into wealth and prosperity".
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