East African Community Partner States Research Articles

Rapid regional mobile laboratory response and genomic monkeypox virus (MPXV) surveillance in seven East African Community partner states, August 2024: preparedness activities for the ongoing outbreak.

The East African Community (EAC) is experiencing an unprecedented, emerging mpox outbreak since July 2024 in five of eight partner states. We highlight rapid regional response measures, initiated August 2024 coordinated by EAC: field deployment of six mobile laboratories in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan to high-risk areas, donation of one mobile laboratory to Democratic Republic of the Congo and genomic monkeypox virus (MPXV) surveillance support. These interventions aim to limit local mpox spread and support international containment.

Towards regional access to medicines: the development of the East African Community pooled procurement mechanism.

The East African Community (EAC) has been facing challenges in ensuring access to affordable and quality-assured medicines. To address these problems, the EAC Partner States have been working on implementing an inter-country pooled procurement mechanism since 2005. However, with limited progress to date. The aims of this study were to explore how the EAC pooled procurement mechanism has been developing over time, and to clarify the work and efforts made during this development process to draw lessons for enhancing such collaborative efforts. For this study, we carried out a multi-method qualitative case study. We used the Pooled Procurement Guidance to collect and structure our data drawn from academic papers, grey literature documents, observations and field notes. For the analysis, we used an inductive thematic analysis approach. Over the past two decades of the EAC's pooled procurement journey, we have identified two developmental stages so far: the promise stage and the creation stage. The promise stage was characterised by initial engagement and alignment efforts between Partner States. However, the lack of dedicated funding and ownership to drive the project forward led to stagnation of the process for some years. Following the establishment of a dedicated organisation, the pooled procurement mechanism entered the creation stage. This stage has been characterised by continuous alignment work consisting of project management, efforts to build inter-personal relationships, and facilitation of negotiations to harmonise goals, needs and operations. This process has been aided by broad and recurring involvement of regional experts. To successfully implement a pooled procurement mechanism, we suggest EAC Partner States to continue their alignment efforts, sustain political will and allocate sustainable funding using a phased implementation approach towards pooled procurement.

Comparative Advantage of Trade in Food Products among the Selected East African Community Partner States: Implication for Policy Formulation

Despite the potential benefits of regional trade, economic disparities among East African Community (EAC) member states persist. This study investigated the relationship between trade openness, comparative advantage in food trade, and economic performance within the EAC, focusing on Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda. The study adopted export data from the United Nations Commodity Trade Statistics Database, the World Bank, and the International Trade Centre, as well as GDP data from the Bank of Tanzania and the National Bureau of Statistics. Data were analysed through descriptive statistics, causality analysis, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), and vector autoregressive model. Findings reveal a positive impact of trade openness on Tanzania’s economy but negative impacts on Kenya and Uganda, suggesting Tanzania benefits from EAC integration while Kenya and Uganda face trade challenges. The causality analysis shows that Tanzania’s economic performance drives food exports, trade openness impacts Kenya’s economic performance significantly, and Uganda sees a reciprocal link between economic growth and food exports; however, trade openness does not significantly affect Ugandan economic growth. The analysis of the Balassa index indicates Kenya’s food export advantage, a decline in Uganda’s export advantage since 1996, and Tanzania’s lack of export advantage with potential for improvement. The study recommends cautiously implementing trade openness policies within the EAC to prevent trade distortions and currency devaluation.

Assessment of the pathogen genomics landscape highlights disparities and challenges for effective AMR Surveillance and outbreak response in the East African community

The East African Community (EAC) grapples with many challenges in tackling infectious disease threats and antimicrobial resistance (AMR), underscoring the importance of regional and robust pathogen genomics capacities. However, a significant disparity exists among EAC Partner States in harnessing bacterial pathogen sequencing and data analysis capabilities for effective AMR surveillance and outbreak response. This study assesses the current landscape and challenges associated with pathogen next-generation sequencing (NGS) within EAC, explicitly focusing on World Health Organization (WHO) AMR-priority pathogens. The assessment adopts a comprehensive approach, integrating a questionnaire-based survey amongst National Public Health Laboratories (NPHLs) with an analysis of publicly available metadata on bacterial pathogens isolated in the EAC countries. In addition to the heavy reliance on third-party organizations for bacterial NGS, the findings reveal a significant disparity among EAC member States in leveraging bacterial pathogen sequencing and data analysis. Approximately 97% (n = 4,462) of publicly available high-quality bacterial genome assemblies of samples collected in the EAC were processed and analyzed by external organizations, mainly in Europe and North America. Tanzania led in-country sequencing efforts, followed by Kenya and Uganda. The other EAC countries had no publicly available samples or had all their samples sequenced and analyzed outside the region. Insufficient local NGS sequencing facilities, limited bioinformatics expertise, lack of adequate computing resources, and inadequate data-sharing mechanisms are among the most pressing challenges that hinder the EAC’s NPHLs from effectively leveraging pathogen genomics data. These insights emphasized the need to strengthen microbial pathogen sequencing and data analysis capabilities within the EAC to empower these laboratories to conduct pathogen sequencing and data analysis independently. Substantial investments in equipment, technology, and capacity-building initiatives are crucial for supporting regional preparedness against infectious disease outbreaks and mitigating the impact of AMR burden. In addition, collaborative efforts should be developed to narrow the gap, remedy regional imbalances, and harmonize NGS data standards. Supporting regional collaboration, strengthening in-country genomics capabilities, and investing in long-term training programs will ultimately improve pathogen data generation and foster a robust NGS-driven AMR surveillance and outbreak response in the EAC, thereby supporting global health initiatives.

Board gender diversity, institutional ownership and earnings management: evidence from East African community listed firms

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to examine the moderating role of institutional ownership on the relationship between board gender diversity and earnings management (EM) among listed firms in East African Community (EAC) partner states.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a sample of 71 firms listed in the EAC partner states over 2011–2020. Data were handpicked from the individual firm's audited annual financial reports. Based on the results of the Hausman test, the study used the results of the fixed-effect regression model to test the hypotheses. To test the robustness of the results, the study employed an alternative measure of EM and two additional econometric techniques, including the pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) and the system generalized method of moments (GMM).FindingsThe empirical findings revealed that female directors improve the board's effectiveness in monitoring managerial roles. Specifically, the results showed a significantly negative relationship between the proportion of women in the corporate board and EM (as measured by discretionary accruals (DAs)). The findings further revealed an inverse relationship between the proportion of institutional ownership and EM. Finally, the results further demonstrated that institutional ownership enhances the role of board gender diversity in mitigating EM among listed firms in the EAC.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study may be useful to managers, investors and regulators in assessing the role of institutional ownership and women's participation on corporate boards as a strategy for alleviating unethical manipulation of earnings.Social implicationsThe findings of this study contribute to the growing concern on gender inequality, especially the marginalization of women from the paid labor force and decision-making. The findings highlight the importance of having more women in the corporate board since this may help in mitigating corporate fraud. Similarly, the findings highlight the importance of institutional ownership as a corporate governance (CG) tool.Originality/valuePrevious studies have reported mixed empirical results on whether board gender diversity mitigates EM. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first paper to fill the existing gap by exploring whether institutional ownership moderates the relationship between board gender diversity and EM among listed firms in the EAC.

The Kenya National Open Science Dialogue: Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

The Kenya National Open Science Dialogue: Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

The East African Community mobile laboratory network prepares for monkeypox outbreaks.

In response to the largest recorded monkeypox virus outbreak outside of endemic Central and Western Africa, the East African Community (EAC), in cooperation with the Bernhard-Nocht- Institute for Tropical Medicine, coordinated an emergency monkeypox diagnostic training for the East African Region. As of June 2022, the Democratic Republic of Congo reported a steady increase of suspected monkeypox cases, increasing the risk of spill-over into the remaining six EAC Partner States. Within the existing EAC Mobile Laboratories project, laboratory experts of the National Public Health Laboratories of the remaining six EAC Partner States (Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan) participated in the workshop and were trained in the reception of suspect samples, DNA extraction and diagnosis using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The EAC region is now equipped with the tools to prepare and rapidly respond to any emerging monkeypox outbreak.

Emerging challenges in implementing the common market protocol for free movement of goods in the East African community

This paper delves into the intricate challenges encountered by Tanzania in effectively implementing the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol (CMP) pertaining to the seamless movement of goods to Kenya. The research adopts a case study design, employing qualitative and in-depth methods to gather data. The data collection process utilizes a purposeful sampling technique involving 30 participants, and thematic analysis is employed for data analysis. The findings highlight several tariff barriers that hinder the effective implementation of the EAC CMP, including customs duties, quantitative restrictions, measures with equivalent impact to customs duties, and those with equivalent impact to quantitative restrictions. Furthermore, the study uncovers non-tariff barriers (NTBs) that impede the free movement of goods from Tanzania to Kenya, such as political barriers, high transportation costs, food insecurity, discrepancies in standards, limited logistics and trade services, and restricted access to finance. The study concludes that the EAC Partner States bear the responsibility of eliminating existing tariff and non-tariff restrictions that obstruct trade, as well as refraining from imposing new ones. This research significantly contributes to our understanding of the economic integration within the EAC by shedding light on the novel challenges encountered in the implementation of the CMP concerning the free movement of goods.

Trade Infrastructure and Export Competitiveness in the East African Community

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of trade infrastructure components: port infrastructure, telephone usage and electricity on the export competitiveness of firms in the East African Community (EAC). The study adopted the structural gravity model and the Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood (PPML), a nonlinear estimation method that was applied in STATA on balanced panel data for the period of 2007 to 2018. Data was obtained from World Bank International Trade Centre (ITC) and World Bank development indicators. Results show that telephone usage, electricity and port infrastructure are positive and significant predictors of export competitiveness in East African Community partner states. The results of this study show that electricity usage, telephone usage and port infrastructure are important contributors to improving export competitiveness in the EAC. There is a need to examine the intricate nature of the EAC economy in order to further this study’s findings. The EAC partner states need to embrace deep integration by removing the behind-the-border trade barriers, in addition to other trade restrictions, to create a common economic space among member states. This will further shrink the delivery time and the tracking and tracing of exports hence improving the competitiveness of EAC exports within the region and outside. Also, common and harmonized economic policies and regulations can be implemented through mutual recognition agreements where countries agree to recognize one another’s conformity assessments.

Monetary Value of Disability-Adjusted Life Years and Potential Productivity Losses Associated With Neglected Tropical Diseases in the East African Community.

In 2019, the East African Community (EAC) lost 12,048,918 disability-adjusted life-years (DALY) across all ages from neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). The specific objectives of the study reported in the paper were to estimate for EAC the monetary value of DALYs sustained by all ages from NTDs, and the potential productivity losses within the working age bracket of 15 years and above. The EAC total monetary value of DALYs lost from all 20 NTDs is the sum of each partner state's monetary value of DALYs lost from all 20 NTDs. The ith partner state's monetary value of DALY from jth disease equals ith state's GDP per capita net of current health expenditure multiplied by DALYs lost from jth disease in 2019. The EAC total productivity losses attributable to DALYs lost from all 20 NTDs is the sum of lost productivity across the seven partner states. The ith partner state's productivity loss associated with jth disease equals ith state's GDP per capita net of current health expenditure multiplied by DALYs lost from jth disease and the ith state's labour force participation rate adjusted for underutilization (unemployment and time-related underemployment) in 2019. The total 12,048,918 DALYs lost in EAC from NTDs had a of International Dollars (Int$) 21,824,211,076 and an average of Int$ 1811 per DALY. The 2,614,464 DALYs lost from NTD among 15-year-olds and above caused an estimated of Int$ 2,588,601,097 (0.392% of the EAC gross domestic product in 2019), and an average of Int$ 990.1 per DALY. The study succeeded in estimating the monetary value of DALYs sustained by all ages from 20 NTDs, and the potential productivity losses within the working age bracket of 15 years and above in the seven EAC partner states. The DALYs lost from NTD among 15-year-olds and above caused a sizeable loss in the economic productivity of EAC.

Between Regional Recommendations and National Implementation: An Analysis of the East African Community Partner States’ Legislative Responses to TRIPS Obligations

With the access-to-medicines conundrum facing its populations, the East African Community has adopted a policy framework which promotes a collective approach to resolving the access gap in the region. To this end, crucial policy documents on the implementation of TRIPS obligations, harmonisation of drug regulation and boosting regional manufacturing capacity have been adopted. This paper is a case study of the regional policy on the implementation of TRIPS obligations, specifically examining the extent to which partner states’ implementation of TRIPS obligations mirrors the regional recommendations. The paper finds that, while many partner states follow the regional recommendations on implementing TRIPS obligations, coherence remains a big challenge. This, the paper concludes, may affect the overall usefulness of a regional approach to solving the access conundrum.

Responsibility of the East African Community to Safeguard Physical Integrity and Freedom of the Citizens of its Member States

This paper looks at the responsibility that the East African Community (EAC) has in safeguarding the right of physical integrity and freedom among the citizens of the Community’s Partner States. It examines the extent in which the EAC has discharged that responsibility and what needs to be in response to any existing shortcomings. The first part of this work is the conceptual framework where the key concepts have been defined and explained. Those concepts are the right to bodily integrity and freedom. The next part is on the legal and institutional framework of the East African Community which deals with protection of the right of physical integrity and freedom. After that part, I have presented a number of incidents of violation of the right of physical integrity and freedom within the EAC region in order to use them as the basis for examining the performance of the EAC’s responsibility referred to herein. The main findings of this work are that EAC has an enormous responsibility to safeguard the right to physical integrity and freedom within its jurisdiction; and that so far, the EAC has underperformed that task. Most of what has been done is more of strategizing, planning and expression of commitments while very little work has been down on the ground. As a result, many citizens of EAC Partner States continue to suffer gross violations of their right of physical integrity as well as their freedoms both from governmental and non-governmental actors. In view of that, the paper has urged the EAC and its Partner States to be more proactive in discharging that significant responsibility.

Cross-border factors

In most of the East African Community (EAC) countries factoring has been subjected to, inter alia, highly restrictive and unclear regulatory infrastructure with inaccurate terminology, capital adequacy, licence and partly-local ownership requirements, making it difficult for factors to offer their services in the other Partner States. This, therefore, impedes the freedom of movement of capital within the Community, rendering Article 76 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (hereinafter referred to as the EAC Treaty) and Article 24 of the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Community Common Market nugatory. Despite the EAC Treaty prohibiting unnecessary restrictions, the Partner States have exuded some exasperating nonchalance towards liberalizing their internal financial markets to allow free movement of capital. Cross-bordering factoring has been regarded as a significant vehicle that can drive the global economy to development. Despite its impressive prospects for future growth, cross-border factoring regulations within EAC Partner States domestic markets remain largely restrictive, hence impeding free movement of capital within the EAC common market. This paper, therefore, sets out to suggest reforms in the Partner States domestic markets and the Common Market that if implemented, will ensure the EAC objective of enhancing free movement of capital within the Common Market is achieved.

Open Science & Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

Open Science & Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

Open Science & Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

Open Science & Open Access Principles and Practices in East African Community Partner States

Export logistics infrastructure and export competitiveness in the East African Community

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of export logistics components: shipment arrangements, timely delivery, customs quality, trade infrastructure, and tracking and tracing on export competitiveness of firms in the East African Community (EAC).Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted the Structural Gravity Model and the Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood (PPML). PPML a nonlinear estimation method was applied in STATA on a balanced panel data for the period of 2007–2018. Data were obtained from World Bank International Trade Centre (ITC), World Bank Logistics Performance Index (LPI) and World Bank development indicators.FindingsResults show that timely delivery and tracking and tracing of exports are positive and significant predictors of export competitiveness in EAC countries. Conversely, shipment arrangements, customs quality and trade infrastructure have no influence on export competitiveness.Research limitations/implicationsThe results of this study show that export logistics components of shipment arrangements, customs quality and trade infrastructure do not matter at the present in improving export competitiveness in the EAC. There is a need to examine the intricate nature of the EAC economy to further this study's findings.Practical implicationsThe EAC partner states should embrace deep integration by removing the behind the border trade barriers in addition to other trade restrictions, to create a common economic space among member states. This will further shrink the delivery time and the tracking and tracing of exports hence improving the competitiveness of EAC exports within the region and outside. Also, common and harmonized trade policies and regulations should be implemented through mutual recognition agreements where countries agree to recognize one another's conformity assessments.Originality/valueThis study explains the complex dynamic interactions of export logistics factors in the EAC using quantitative data and that this interaction has an effect on the export competitiveness in import-dominated countries with less harmonization in their trade policies.

Trade with the EU, Variable Geometry and Human Rights in the EAC

The Economic Partnership Agreement between the East African Community (EAC) and the European Union (EU) is of particular importance for the Kenyan floriculture sector. While the other EAC Partner States remain reluctant to ratify this agreement, they allowed the Republic of Kenya to start its implementation under the principle of variable geometry in June 2021. Kenya and the EU then started a strategic dialogue in which they pledged to strengthen their cooperation on human rights issues. This article identifies two priorities for floriculture workers: Kenya’s ratification of the core labour rights Convention No. 87 on the Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise and the broadening of an enabling space for an active, organised and transparent civil society.

What does the Data Tell Us About Dominatarian Theory of Regional Integration?

This article contests that the classical regional integration theoretical frameworks are too broad to bring out conceptual clarity and explain the emerging interstate tensions. The paper identifies two specific indicators that together can explain the dynamics: economic domination and institutional (interest groups) domination. It evaluates the applicability of the Onditi’s dominatarian theory by constructing an alternative thinking framework— regional trade dominance (RTD), to explain the dynamics of the regional integration based on trade data from the East African Community (EAC) Development Strategy, 2016–2021. The paper addresses this conceptual-policy lacuna by demonstrating how Kenya’s economic performance and institutional (interest groups) leverages have sustained its dominant interest, leading to interstate cynicism and mistrust. The persistent mistrust driven by the perceived asymmetric power balance among the EAC Partner States points to the importance of framing the debate in a way that constructs the outcome of the regional integration to accommodate both powerful states and those perceived weak. In this case, the RTD analytical framework, offers the option for constructing the outcome of a regional integration, either as a noun, dominance or as an act of domination.

Harmonization of medical products regulation: a key factor for improving regulatory capacity in the East African Community

BackgroundLimited capacity to regulate medical products is associated with circulation of products which do not meet standards of quality, safety and efficacy with negative public health and economic outcomes. This study focused on assessing the effect of the East African Community (EAC) medicines regulatory harmonization initiative on the capacity of national medicines regulatory agencies, with a focus on registration and inspection systems.MethodsAn exploratory mixed-method design using both qualitative and quantitative data to access data from six national medicines regulatory authorities (NMRAs) and the EAC Secretariat. Data was collected using a combination of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires, and checklists for the period 2010/11–2015/16 with 2010/11 data serving as baseline. Heads of NMRAs, regulatory and monitoring and evaluation experts, and the EAC Secretariat Project Officer were enrolled in the study. A set of 14 indicators grouped into 6 categories were used to assess NMRAs performance.ResultsPolicy and legal frameworks provide a foundation for effective regulation. Collaboration, harmonization, joint dossier reviews and inspections of manufacturing sites, reliance and cooperation are key factors for building trust and capacity among NMRAs. Five out of six of the EAC Partner States have comprehensive medicines laws with autonomous NMRAs. All the NMRAs have functional registration and good manufacturing practice inspection systems supported by regional harmonised guidelines for registration, inspection, quality management and information management systems with four NMRAs attaining ISO 9001:2015 certification.ConclusionsThe EAC regulatory harmonization initiative has contributed to improved capacity to regulate medical products. The indicators generated from this research can be replicated for evaluation of similar initiatives across and beyond the African continent and contribute to public health policy.

English

The study set out to evaluate the relationship between sectoral Aid for Trade (AfTS) and sectoral exports within East Africa – represented by the East African Community partner states including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. The Estimation method used was the Seemingly Unrelated Regression Equation (SURE) model. The SURE estimation results show a positive significant relationship between AfTS and exports from the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors in the East Africa Region, implying that the initiative has and continues to foster the growth of exports from the region. This relationship however is inelastic, implying that percentage increases in aid disbursed lead to smaller percentage increase in sectoral exports. The results also show a highly significant, positive and elastic relationship between value addition and exports. Other regressors like regulatory quality and corruption control also show a higher impact on exports than AFTS. This shows that while AfTS can contribute to improved export performance, improvements in value addition, the quality of the regulatory environment, and the level of corruption control are equally or even more important in facilitating export growth. From the correlation coefficients between the sectors, all the three sectors are positively correlated. It can also be seen that the greatest correlations exist between the manufacturing sector and the agriculture sector, which could be because the countries in the study –from East Africa are mainly agriculture exporters, with a lot of inputs feeding from the agriculture sectors to the manufacturing sectors. Key words: Aid for trade, sectoral exports, seemingly unrelated regression model. &nbsp