Africa-Press – Tanzania. EAST African partner states have been in constant effort to create an enabling environment for the private sector growth that would ultimately enhance its contribution to economic development.
For example, while in Kenya for a State visit last week, President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her host President Uhuru Kenya pledged to take some measures intended to remove trade barriers between the two countries meant to spur private sector growth.
The move made by the two Heads of State opened a fresh chapter for attracting new investments through the private sector which is an important engine of economic growth of the EAC partner states.
Of the six nations that make up the East African Community (EAC), Kenya is the largest investor in Tanzania and the fifth largest on the continent.
The EAC cooperation seeks to, among others, rationalise investments and full use of established industries to promote production efficiency and harmonise and rationalise investment incentives to promote investments in the region.
It is along these lines that the private-public partnership is viewed as an important platform in increasing net investment in a specific industry that can lead to greater project growth in a specific sector.
The private sector plays a significant role in creating both formal and informal jobs as well as delivering critical goods and services that contribute to tax revenues and efficient capital flow.
Recognising the importance of the private sector to the regional economy, the EAC Secretary General, Dr Peter Mathuki assured regional members to support the private sector so that it plays its rightful role in the integration process.
For him, the conducive regional business policy environment that takes into account proposals and recommendations from the private sector builds confidence in the region as an attractive investment destination and trade hub.
Giving confidence to the private guarantee increased flow of investments into the region that will yield economic benefits and hence increase trade flow between these two nations.
Private sector growth is widely acknowledged to be an essential component in the alleviation of poverty as a means of providing more and different economic opportunities in any given society.
It is from this perspective that the private sector is regarded as an agent of change and potential partner for implementing various social-economic projects that can play an important role in reducing poverty in society.
Therefore it is high time that the EAC partner states take an active role in uprooting barriers that hinder private sector growth so that it may yield intended benefits for the improved living standards of the people in the bloc.
