Having been considered as a dormant continent for long, Africa is now the fastest growing continent in the world. This may look as an overstatement but a keen economic survey confirms this. The rapid growth is attributed to the natural resources that dot this continent from one corner to the other. Looking at the continent economic growth without factoring the East African development will not give a true picture given that much of this growth is as a result of rapid economic expansion in East African countries.
The membership of the East African Community include Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya all of which are located at the horn of Africa. With ever improving governance level largely attributed to the improving political and democratic space, the region is at forefront in continental development.
The recent discovery of large oil reserves in Kenya and Uganda has completely changed the perception of major international investors who now see it as an alternative investment region. The situation is even made better by the presence of other specious minerals such as copper, diamond, titanium, soda ash among many others.
Kenyan capital Nairobi city for instance has in the recent past seen many multinational firms set up their headquarters as the operation centers targeting to serve Eastern and Central Africa market. Nairobi remains the regional economic hub while Rwanda on the other hand is the fastest growing nation.
The real development in the region is best witness from the huge infrastructural projects that are being implemented. All the five member states currently have several contractors working on their roads to ensure that they meet the international standards. The expansion of the Mombasa port to accommodate larger ship is also part of these initiatives.
Full integration of East African Community umbrella that is at advanced stage is set to promote this development even further. Open border system and adoption of a single currency for trade among all the five countries will further stimulate the economic growth as such activities as cross border trade will be greatly boosted in addition to a major boost to tourism.
East African development is however facing several threats that threaten to slow down the overall rate of growth. High insecurity for instance resulting from terrorist activities keeps investors away. Some neighboring countries like Somalia and Southern Sudan are still unstable in terms of governance, a situation that increases smuggling of illegal firearms through the porous borders increasing insecurity.
Other social challenges that are slowing down this economic development include high rate of population growth that results to a situation where many youths are jobless. The effect is that there is an increase in rural urban immigration that translates to expansion of slam settlement. This accompanied with many social evils and the threat of HIV results to a less productive population.
Agricultural potential of the region is so immense and remains one of the areas that can be fully utilized in order to experience faster East African development. Considering a lot of opportunities like fresh water lakes, several rivers and fertile soils, the region has yet to create a name in the world of agriculture and this should be the focus of investors.
The membership of the East African Community include Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Kenya all of which are located at the horn of Africa. With ever improving governance level largely attributed to the improving political and democratic space, the region is at forefront in continental development.
The recent discovery of large oil reserves in Kenya and Uganda has completely changed the perception of major international investors who now see it as an alternative investment region. The situation is even made better by the presence of other specious minerals such as copper, diamond, titanium, soda ash among many others.
Kenyan capital Nairobi city for instance has in the recent past seen many multinational firms set up their headquarters as the operation centers targeting to serve Eastern and Central Africa market. Nairobi remains the regional economic hub while Rwanda on the other hand is the fastest growing nation.
The real development in the region is best witness from the huge infrastructural projects that are being implemented. All the five member states currently have several contractors working on their roads to ensure that they meet the international standards. The expansion of the Mombasa port to accommodate larger ship is also part of these initiatives.
Full integration of East African Community umbrella that is at advanced stage is set to promote this development even further. Open border system and adoption of a single currency for trade among all the five countries will further stimulate the economic growth as such activities as cross border trade will be greatly boosted in addition to a major boost to tourism.
East African development is however facing several threats that threaten to slow down the overall rate of growth. High insecurity for instance resulting from terrorist activities keeps investors away. Some neighboring countries like Somalia and Southern Sudan are still unstable in terms of governance, a situation that increases smuggling of illegal firearms through the porous borders increasing insecurity.
Other social challenges that are slowing down this economic development include high rate of population growth that results to a situation where many youths are jobless. The effect is that there is an increase in rural urban immigration that translates to expansion of slam settlement. This accompanied with many social evils and the threat of HIV results to a less productive population.
Agricultural potential of the region is so immense and remains one of the areas that can be fully utilized in order to experience faster East African development. Considering a lot of opportunities like fresh water lakes, several rivers and fertile soils, the region has yet to create a name in the world of agriculture and this should be the focus of investors.
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