industrial exchange programmes, trade missions, joint exhibitions and conferences, as well as training programmes and certifications.
In 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic crippled economies across the globe, foreign direct investments from the US to Tanzania totalled $1.5 billion, while to Kenya it was $353 million, to Uganda $42 million and to Rwanda $11 million. According to Olivier Kamanzi, the chairman of the AGCC, the new deal provides the opportunity for American investors and members of the African diaspora to partner with the private sector of Africa and to strengthen the growth of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Six years ago, the EAC signed an Agreement on Trade Facilitation, Sanitary and Phytosanitary with the US, while the apex body of East Africa’s Private Sector associations also launched the EAC-US Commercial Dialogue and initiated negotiations on EAC-US Investment Treaty.
Reports show that the pandemic had a critical impact on trade relations between the parties, as imports of goods from the EAC to the US declined to $963 million in 2020, while exports dropped to $681,300 last year, owing to the global health crisis. In 2019, these figures stood at $1.124 billion and $704 million respectively.
Meanwhile, the Business Council’s chief executive John Bosco Kalisa has called for joint advocacy efforts to commence negotiations on an EAC-US Free Trade Agreement, and ensure the extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), under which the regional bloc enjoys preferential market access to the US.
