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1. East African Development Potential And Challenges

2. After having lagged behind for very long, Africa has now
taken off and is one of the fastest growing continents in
the world. The growth is largely attributed to large
amount of natural resources both human and natural.
East African development in particular is where this
unprecedented growth has been witnessed as all the
five member countries have recorded positive economic
growth basing on the World Bank reports.

3. The membership of the East African Community include
Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya all of
which are located at the horn of Africa. With ever
improving governance level largely attributed to the
improving political and democratic space, the region is
at forefront in continental development.

4. The recent discovery of large oil reserves in Kenya and
Uganda has contributed immensely to this faster rate of
economic growth. Other than oil, these countries are
also rich in many other minerals that are exported such
as copper from Uganda, Diamond from Tanzania,
titanium and soda ash from Kenya among others.

5. It is the increase interest in these countries by the
foreign investors that actually portrays the real picture
of high economic growth rate. After emerging from a
turbulent election in 2007, Kenyan economy has picked
up attracting several multinational firms that are setting
up their regional headquarters in Nairobi (Capital City of
Kenya) with the focus of serving the entire Eastern and
Central African Market.

6. The real development in the region is best witness from
the huge infrastructural projects that are being
implemented. All the five member states currently have
several contractors working on their roads to ensure
that they meet the international standards. The
expansion of the Mombasa port to accommodate larger
ship is also part of these initiatives.

7. Ambitious project of consolidating all East African
member communities under one umbrella is at
advanced stage. The completion of this process will see
both political and economic integration of these
countries with a single passport for the whole region
and a single currency. This will foster trade and attract
both tourists and investors to the region.

8. Insecurity and terrorist threats however continue to
hinder East African development as many tourists and
international investors are scared away. The insecurity is
particular as a result of porous borders that the
countries in this community share with the politically
unstable countries like Somalia. There has been an
increase in smuggling of firearms through the porous
borders of these countries causing serious insecurity
challenges.

9. Other social challenges that are slowing down this
economic development include high rate of population
growth that results to a situation where many youths
are jobless. The effect is that there is an increase in rural
urban immigration that translates to expansion of slam
settlement. This accompanied with many social evils and
the threat of HIV results to a less productive population.

10. One of the major assets that remain untapped lies in the
area of agriculture. Backed with good climate and
several lakes and rivers, the region lies in fertile land
that will be able to produce enough food to sustain the
population and leave enough for export hence solving
unemployment problems and fostering East African
development plan.

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