Media Briefs

The Energy Security Policy Framework launched today in Kigali by the East African Community in partnership with the UN Economic Commission for Africa, ECA will help East African countries to tackle the increasing energy insecurity affecting the region.

The African Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, could boost regional trade and industrialization, especially in East Africa. Effective implementation of the agreement signed last March in Kigali is now needed to unleash the potential of the region.

With an average growth rate of 6.7% between 2013 and 2017 - double the African average - East Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, accompanied by rapid social improvements. Average life expectancy has increased by 5.3 years over the past decade, with some countries registering historically unprecedented gains (e.g. 8.5 years in Kenya and Rwanda).

 

Kigali Convention Centre

More than 250 decision makers and economic stakeholders will gather in Kigali next week to reach a common understanding on the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area, the AFCFTA, which was signed in Rwanda earlier this year.  The AfCFTA, now signed by 49 countries out of 55 on the continent, requires 22 countries to ratify it before it can come into force. More efforts are needed to make the AfCFTA a reality and enable the economic transformation it is aiming at.