Publication: Reshaping Economic Geography of East Africa : From Regional to Global Integration, Volume 2. Technical Annexes
Date
2012-06
ISSN
Published
2012-06
Author(s)
World Bank
Abstract
Five East African countries Burundi,
Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda have made solid progress
on integrating regionally in the East African Community
(EAC) since 1999. Such advances are crucial, as integration
in East Africa has the potential for higher than usual
benefits: Burundi, Rwanda, and Uganda are landlocked, with
very high costs to their economies. Successful integration
will transform the five countries into one coastal, regional
economy, slashing such costs. Looking at the East African
integration through the lens of economic geography helps to
improve sequencing of the integration process and to develop
new policies to complement ongoing efforts, maximizing their
benefits. Reducing disparities in provision of social
services will increase the chances of workers from the
inland parts of the EAC to find jobs, especially as
administrative obstacles to labor mobility are being removed
under the Common Market Protocol. Implementing and deepening
the current program of regional infrastructure improvements
will ensure that consumers and producers throughout the
region are better connected to each other and to global
markets. Integration policies facilitating greater economic
activity in the coastal areas will help the EAC take
advantage of the global demand for manufactured goods and
thus to promote employment. That will also generate
substantial demand for services and agricultural goods
produced inland, amplifying the benefits of the customs union.
Citation
“World Bank. 2012. Reshaping Economic Geography of East Africa : From Regional to Global Integration, Volume 2. Technical Annexes. © Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/147c8452-0f2b-5a52-83e3-7e255b5336a3 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”