On 20/08/2007, after the 6th ordinary session of the EAC Heads of State, I waited with bated breath for the announcement of a fully integrated East African Economic Union, a union redeemed from the fear and suspicion that previosuly led to breakup.
To my dismay, the same structural failings and issues that necessitated the first collapse still exist. During the first collapse it was easy to blame ideological differences between Tanzania and the rest of the East African Community since the latter was socialist while the former shared capitalistic ideologies. This aside, the real reasons as time came to reveal was the fear that Kenya dominated the rest of the community.
Following the collapse of the EAC and prior to the recent haphazard re-integration, arose the Common Markets for East and Southern Africa (COMESA ) the only remaining workable regional organisation that Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania had in common. This was until Tanzania opted out again to join South African Development Cooperation (SADC) , allying itself to what is clearly a grouping for Southern African countries.......................(please read the rest of the post at http://businessinfocus.blogspot.com)
Friday, August 24, 2007
Tanzania diminishes chances of regional integration
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 Comment:
Tnazania has very good reasons to be careful and wary of an immediate integration: unlike the two other countries, especially Kenya, Tanzania has vast untapped resources. They fear being swallowed. Note: unlike Kenyans and Ugandans who most agree on an immediate integration, most Tanzanias don't.
It would be great to see East Africa as one; it can be gradually done. I poste about this here: http://omar-basawad.blogspot.com/2007/08/in-support-of-yoweri-museveni.html
Post a Comment