The 6th report by the Society for International Development, released in collaboration with Trade Mark East Africa, analyses several sectors in three pillars: the economic pillar comprising agriculture, wages and wage policy; the social pillar consisting of education, health, housing and shelter sectors; and the political pillar that includes justice and security issues. It was launched yesterday.

In Summary
New findings on the state of East Africa are pretty gloomy – though the experts themselves see some reasons for optimism if major changes are made
Dar es Salaam. East African countries should rethink and renegotiate social contracts and independence for citizens to benefit from regional economic growth, a report on the state of East Africa 2016 launched yesterday says.
The report suggests that the region has massive potential that needs to be exploited, but trade barriers, poor infrastructure, insecurity, unfair judicial systems, low wages and weak regulations are still a major stumblimg block.
The East African Community (EAC) member states have, therefore, been urged to genuinely reform the institutions through formulation of laws, policies and regulations that would make them more equitable, predictable and inclusive.
The 6th report by the Society for International Development (SID) in collaboration with Trade Mark East Africa has also advised the countries to reform structures in the corridors of power, and in their economies.
At the launch of the report, SID deputy managing director Arthur Muliro told reporters that institutional arrangements at national levels are skewed in favour of the rich and powerful people, suggesting that consolidating inequalities within member states will negatively impact the future generation.
“There is a strong possibility that future EAC generations will live a worse life as compared to the current generation,” he said.
A “catastrophic convergence” of politics, economy and environment are not friendly to the region, he noted. EAC member states are, therefore, supposed to urgently invest in schemes that magnify potential gains from cooperation whilst minimising conflicts.
They are also supposed to undergo thorough change in the mindset to embrace opportunities that enable them to survive in tomorrow’s world. Trust and cooperation are no longer in existence in EAC societies, he said.
Also, the changes require countries to shift form linear problem solving approaches to system thinking and collaborative problem solving, and that success in that would call for reinforcement of institutions necessary for the said purpose.
According to Mr Muliro, the report emphasises that the biggest task facing East African states isn’t pursuing economic growth at any cost, but creating foundations for lasting human development in the region.
The report insists on the need to reinforce livelihood of each individual citizen, and calls for multiplication of potentials to stimulate national and regional economic growth. Citizens should also be considered as partners, not enemies or disruptive elements.
“Our capacity should also unmask and tackle political economies that are drivers of inequalities at national levels, otherwise we will not be in a position to guarantee our regional integration process as people centred and sustainable, and one that is transformative for the lives and choices of the region,” he said.
He said massive spending on key infrastructure projects done by member states need to consider broader public benefits at the outset. Local economic growth and empowerment should be the focus of infrastructure development.
The report analyses several sectors in three pillars, the economic pillar comprising agriculture, wages and wage policy, the social pillar consisting of education, health, housing and shelter sectors, and the political pillar that include justice and security concerns.
Among other changes suggested in this year’s report is the need for increased investment in the agricultural sector so as to benefit large number of the citizens employed in the sector. There is also need to transform the education sector to reduce levels of inequality in the region.
He said functional infrastructure networks in EAC states that are supposed to connect producers to markets, and reduce spoilage of the produces are now the ‘corridor of power’ rather than ‘corridors of the plenty’, meaning only a few are benefitting at the expense of the majority.
“Furthermore, in the search of quality, current standards for intra-regional trade are higher than those for products coming from outside the region. Therefore, small farmers are penalised by these standards and are unable to take full advantage of available local markets,” he said.
Launching the report, the Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union Affairs and Environment), Mr January Makamba, said inequality was the fourth enemy after ignorance, poverty and disease, declared soon after independence.
He said the government was challenged to equally distribute available opportunities to the citizens, saying equality in accessing education opportunities was the best approach of building a safe and peaceful nation.
“Currently, education provided in rural schools is poor as compared to the one the rich provide to their children in urban areas. We need to change… by providing children across the country with better education regardless of the family and geographical disparities,” he said.
He said the region faced insecurity threat if inequality persists, and that the citizen’s trust in governments is diminishing.
Source: The Citizen