All member states of the East African Community to have a common currency by 2027
The East African Community member countries unveil a timeline to have a common currency by 2027
The East African Community member countries unveil a timeline to have a common currency by 2027.
The East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Peter Mathuki on Thursday, January 12, announced that the seven partner States of the EAC will have a common currency by 2027.
Speaking during a five-day retreat for all EAC Staff at Maanzoni Lodge in Machakos County, Mathuki indicated that the Council of Ministers was ready to make a decision on the location of the East African Monetary institute by the end of 2023.
The projected one currency will be issued by the East African Monetary Institute, which will later become the East African Central Bank.
“The monetary institute would allow the community to come up with a constitution that will then create a roadmap for having one currency,” Mathuki stated.
Having a single regional currency means that the East African Monetary Union will have the authority to issue national currencies instead of individual countries.
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The Secretary-General claims that the region’s single currency will make it easier for people and goods to travel around.
“It is in line with our goal to make the region borderless so that people can freely move and trade as envisioned in the Common Market Protocol,” he explained.
Peter Mathuki also noted a growth in intra-EAC commerce, with the value of intra-EAC trade rising from Ksh880 billion in 2019 to Ksh1.1 trillion in 2022.
The Secretary-General ascribed, among other things, the easing of Covid-19 limitations throughout the region and political goodwill among the EAC Heads of State to the rise in intra-regional commerce.
“High-level discussions among Heads of State had eliminated many non-tariff barriers impeding intra-regional trade and expressed hope that this and other factors would help raise the level of intra-regional trade in East Africa to at least 40% over the next five years,” Mathuki indicated.
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