Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE regional integration agenda received a major boost yesterday after the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat sealed a 152bn/- (€53.8mn) deal with the Federal Republic of Germany.
The grant is set to further support the regional organisation in the areas of education, health and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Speaking here yesterday, Germany Ambassador to Tanzania, Regine Hess disclosed that a staggering 138bn /-(€49mn) would go through a German state-owned investment and development bank (KfW), and will be injected into the six partner states to support their Immunization programme, through Gavi, a global vaccine alliance.
Part of the grant will also be channeled towards the EAC Regional Centre of Excellence (VIHSCM) in Rwanda and the Integrated Water Resource Management Programme at the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).
“The grant will fund a number of activities including the completion of the building of the center of excellence headquarters, its equipment, operations, research and sustainability fund,” she expounded.
The remaining 13.5bn/- (€4.8mn) which is also part of the KfW grant, will be support the EAC-GIZ Digital Skills for an Innovative East African Economy(dSkills@EA), according to the Ms Hess. “Regional cooperation is in German blood.
We have been members of the European Union from the very beginning. Regional integration brings more economic and political power to nations,” she added.
In his rejoinder, EAC’s Deputy Secretary General in charge Planning, Infrastructure, Finance and Administration, Engineer Steven Mlote assured the Germany’s Ambassador that the Secretariat will optimally use the grant for the intended purposes.
On his part, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki thanked the Federal Republic of Germany for the support, noting that it had come at an opportune time when the economic bloc was still reeling from the effects of Covid 19.
“We’ve had our fair share of challenges stemming from the Pandemic and I can assure you that we’ll put the grant to good use,” assured Dr Mathuki.
While taking the envoy through the EAC’s strides, Dr Mathuki informed Ms Hess that the economic block stands to borrow a lot from the European Union Commission, particularly on how it established the Eurozone and its experience with the currency.
“We intend to benchmark with the best,” he added.
The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania
