Dear Members and Partners,
I am pleased to share with you the EABC Regional Policy Advocacy Agenda on Trade in Services.
Trade in services has emerged as a key driver of economic transformation across the East African Community (EAC), accounting for a growing share of the region’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employment, and cross-border trade.
In 2022, services contributed approximately 46 percent of GDP across EAC Partner States, with sectors such as finance, tourism, transport, education, ICT, and professional services leading the way. Services also account for over 30 percent of formal employment and are becoming increasingly tradable—representing approximately 24 percent of intra-EAC trade and a growing share of exports under global and continental frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Overall, the integrated services sector plays a pivotal role in shaping and driving economic growth, regional integration, and development in the EAC Partner States. Download EABC Regional Policy Advocacy Agenda on Trade in Services.
Despite this growing importance, trade in services in the EAC continues to face a myriad of challenges, including regulatory fragmentation and market access constraints. Addressing these challenges requires a coordinated, evidence-based, and forward-looking policy advocacy agenda that elevates the voice of the private sector in shaping the regional services trade architecture.
It is against this backdrop that the East African Business Council (EABC) has developed this Regional Policy Advocacy Agenda on Trade in Services. This Agenda is a strategic tool aimed at enhancing the private sector’s influence in policy and regulatory reforms, promoting structured public-private dialogue, and aligning national and regional efforts to unlock the full potential of trade in services in the EAC and beyond.
The formulation of this Agenda has been informed by a robust consultative process involving businesses, sector associations, regulators, trade negotiators, and policymakers across all EAC Partner States. It reflects the collective priorities and aspirations of the region’s services industry and provides a roadmap for achieving a competitive, harmonized, and integrated regional services market.
This is particularly timely, as AfCFTA Member States have embarked on implementing the AfCFTA Guided Trade Initiative, which is expected to expand opportunities for services trade across Africa. At the same time, EAC Partner States are actively participating in Phase II negotiations to liberalise the remaining five services sectors: construction and related engineering services, environmental services, health-related and social services, recreation, cultural and sporting services, and other services not included elsewhere.
Under the Common Market Protocol (CMP), which came into force in 2010, Partner States committed to liberalise seven priority service sectors, namely business, communications, distribution, education, financial, tourism and travel, and transport services. Services liberalisation under the CMP followed a positive list approach, where Partner States only scheduled sub-sectors they were willing to open based on their national development agendas. Consequently, Partner States took varied approaches to liberalisation, making commitments in different service activities and modes of supply. This has contributed to the persistence of trade restrictions and an unfinished liberalisation agenda at the regional level—factors that continue to fragment the services market and increase the cost of trading in services.
Despite agreeing under the CMP to progressively remove restrictions and refrain from introducing new ones, trade barriers remain prevalent across the region.
The potential for services to act as a strategic driver of economic competitiveness, growth, and structural transformation in the EAC can only be fully realised if Partner States fully implement existing commitments on trade in services, eliminate domestic regulatory hurdles, and remove restrictions that continue to fragment the services market and raise transaction costs.
It is time for EAC Partner States to set clear timeframes for achieving a fully integrated regional services sector. This is particularly critical as the region moves toward the goal of a single currency, which is the climax of the EAC Monetary Union and the third stage of the integration process. The term “progressively” should no longer be used to justify delays in the realisation of the free movement of services for both service suppliers and EAC citizens as consumers. The implementation of Common Market commitments must not be perpetual; rather, it should be guided by realistic and enforceable timelines to ensure the full integration of the services sector within the EAC.
Without pre-empting the details of our Agenda, it is important to emphasize that it outlines concrete, actionable recommendations and sector-specific policy priorities that the region must adopt to develop a well-integrated trade in services market. These include improving data collection and market intelligence, enhancing sector competitiveness and export readiness, accelerating services integration and regulatory reforms, and removing investment, taxation, and immigration barriers.
Additionally, the Agenda outlines sector-specific policy priorities for:
- Business Services: Fast-tracking MRA implementation and harmonizing licensing across EAC Partner States.
- Communication Services: Fully implementing the One Network Area for Data and harmonizing cybersecurity frameworks to drive down costs and build trust in digital services.
- Distribution Services: Streamlining licensing and taxation and promoting SME participation in supply chains.
- Financial Services: Adopting Basel III standards and improving payment interoperability via East African Payment System (EAPS) and AfCFTA Pan African Payment & Settlements System (PAPSS) .
- Tourism Services: Implementing a region-wide Single Tourist Visa and harmonizing professional standards to promote labor mobility.
- Transport Services: Harmonizing regional transport regulations and improving border efficiency through 24/7 OSBP operations and automation.
- Education Services: Aligning education policies and fostering industry-academia collaboration to address skill gaps and youth unemployment.
- Emerging Liberalization Sectors: Including construction, engineering, and health services, where harmonized standards and regional initiatives such as telemedicine can address cross-border access and competitiveness.
This Advocacy Agenda is more than a policy document—it is a call to action. A call for the private sector to speak with one voice, for governments to engage constructively with businesses, and for regional institutions to champion reforms that facilitate growth, innovation, competitiveness and investment in services trade.
I extend my sincere appreciation to all stakeholders who contributed their insights during the development of this Agenda, including EABC national focal points, sectoral associations, government representatives, and our development partner, GIZ. Your commitment and collaboration have been instrumental in shaping a practical and impactful advocacy tool.
As we move forward, I urge all stakeholders to actively utilize this Regional Policy Advocacy Agenda as a basis for engagement, dialogue, and joint action. Together, we can unlock new trade and investment opportunities, enhance competitiveness, and accelerate the EAC’s journey toward a thriving services-led economy.
