Recently I was in an argument with some friends who insisted that since such an influential country like  Britain is abandoning the European Union, why bother with the East African Community?
It is sometimes forgetten that long before the EU, the former East African Common Services arrangement was working out quite will until nationalisitc politics set in.
Imagine where we would be after 50 years! With all due respect to the British decision, it does not mean economic integration cannot work.
One only has to see what this region hwas achieved during the past 17 years. Even better, East Africans  should look further afield across Africa and see how the rest are faring.
The EAC has many problems, which eventually we will solve, but the point is that regional integration has boosted the profile of our part of Africa.
International multilateral bodies talks about the EAC with some respect. Many are willing to lend a heling hand, in terms of financial and technical know-how to make sure we have the best chances of suceeding.
Without a doubt, Brexit was a blow to the concept of integration, but in my opinion, being on an island with a long history, the British never really got used to having to kowtow to ‘faceless’ beings in Brussels.
Source: Business Week

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