EAC to Conduct African Monetary Union Workshop

EAC

The East African Community Secretariat will conduct a validation workshop later next month on the draft report on the establishment of a monetary union among the East African Partner States. Senior officials from the Partner States’ Ministries of Finance, EAC Affairs, Planning, Trade, and Industry; Central Banks; Bureau of Statistics; Capital Markets Authorities; Association of Bankers; the academia; Parliamentarians; the Private Sector; and the Civil Society are expected to attend in Kampala, Uganda. On 2 June 2009, the East African Community and the European Central Bank (ECB) entered into a consultancy agreement in regard to the preparation of the Study on the establishment of East African Monetary Union (EAMU) among the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC).

In that context, the ECB did preliminary research on the study and so far submitted an interim report which has been considered and agreed upon by the EAC Secretariat and the Partner States. Based on the preliminary findings, the EAC Secretariat launched a series of consultations in the Partner States in September 2009. Consultations targeting a broad spectrum of stakeholders were held in all the five Partner States and the Consultants incorporated stakeholders’ views and have now prepared a draft Final Report of the EAC Monetary Union Study, which the Kampala workshop is expected to discuss. The workshop will mainly brainstorm on the prerequisites for the establishment of the EAC Monetary Union; on the legal, regulatory and institutional framework; and on the preparatory work necessary for the establishment of a single currency. The output of the Kampala workshop will enable the Consultants to finalize and submit the final report of the Study on the establishment of the Monetary Union to the EAC Secretariat by end of February 2010. The report will provide a conclusive roadmap on the establishment of a single currency in the region.

The EAC Deputy Secretary General (Planning & Infrastructure), Mr. Alloyce Mutabingwa says the Kampala workshop will also receive progress report of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Project on Regional Financial Sector for EAC Partner States. Adding that “the scope and focus of the project is to assess regional frameworks for financial stability, analyze cross border and policy challenges. It will also evaluate the harmonization of the institutional and regulatory financial infrastructures in the region”. Following the implementation of a fully fledged EAC Customs Union from 1st January 2010, and the signing of the East African Common Market Protocol in November 2009, the next most important stage (3rd pillar) in the East African integration process is the Monetary Union. The EAC Heads of State have directed that the East African Monetary Union be in place by 2012.

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