For mobile phone users who sometimes travel outside the country, the news just gets better and better everyday.

The fresh dose is that MTN subscribers do not only need to  change their sim cards or numbers, they now also do not need to run out of airtime simply because they have travelled to Uganda or Kenya and therefore cannot access local Rwandan airtime.

Using one’s local number, MTN subscribers can buy airtime from whichever East African country they are in, and load it onto their phones without any hassle.

Breakthroughs in the telecommunications industry is breaking down hitherto insurmountable barriers to integration and unity, and one wonders really whether it is not economic federation that should be fast-tracked in the East African Community.

Other networks in the region are doing the same. Zain, former Celtel, took a giant leap of faith, covering as it does a huge swathe of region from the West African coast to central Africa and over to the east African coast, uniting people in an amazing manner on just one network.

This kind of communication breaks down political boundaries and unites people in a way that makes it possible to consider the network subscribers as family members.

Telecommunication has helped show the world that even physical divides can be breached and an established one-people system takes over.

This is now only in the business sense, but it is a pointer to the times to come - coming together as one for the greater, common good.

This is a time not only for people to give their views on the fast tracking of the East African political federation, but also on the joining of Rwanda to the greater body of the Commonwealth.

Smart businessmen are showing us the gains in coming together; this should help us make up our minds that development lies in the way of unity, and federating may accelerate the economic gains we are all seeking.  

Ends