Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto has said that the East African Community must put in place mechanisms to enable it to be competitive in emerging high-tech fields, pointing out that the region is now an attractive investment destination.

He made the observation on Tuesday, March 5 during Special Sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), in Nairobi, Kenya.

It is important for the regional lawmakers and officials to lay a strong foundation for East Africa to make a transformative contribution to pan-African integration under the emergence of Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) as the next hub of global investment, trade and industry, Ruto said.

"In order to do this, we have to complete implementation of all the pillars of EAC integration urgently, and equally critically align our integration agenda with a broader Africa transformational paradigm under the Africa we want,” he observed.

"We must provide a strong framework for achieving the development of sustainable competitive advantage in emerging high-tech fields such as the digital economy in general, and artificial intelligence, automation, robotics and machine learning in order to stay ahead of both threats, and opportunities that will continue to unfold in a rapidly digitising global economy,” he said.

He told regional parliamentarians that the work of intensifying the integration of East African Community has proceeded at an encouraging pace so that "while much remains to be done for us to accomplish our aspiration, the progress we have made has taken us closer to it incrementally.”

"It is no overstatement to acknowledge the contribution of this Assembly towards making this progress possible,” he said.

"Our Customs Union is on the move, with this Assembly creating a legislative framework to establish a common external tariff, uniform customs rules and procedures, and common rules of origin,” added.

These frameworks also provide for the elimination of non-tariff barriers and the implementation of a single customs territory, one-stop border posts, as well as facilitation of the development of regional and national trade information portals, the president indicated.

As a result of trade facilitation legislation, he said that intra-EAC trade holds the highest position among trading blocs in our continent, at 25 per cent.

"East African Community total trade in 2022 stood at $74 billion. The same year, Africa accounted for 44 per cent and 25 per cent of EAC’s total exports and imports respectively,” he said.

"With a combined GDP of $350 billion, a population of approximately 350 million, and an expansive area of five million square kilometers, the EAC member states are an attractive investment destination,” he pointed out.

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Meanwhile, Ruto said "peace, stability, and security, must remain our foremost concern” because they are the foundations that underlie all pursuits of growth, development, and prosperity.

"A peaceful, stable and secure East Africa is a competitive and prosperous East Africa,” he said.

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EALA is holding its holding sittings running from March 4 to March 20 in Kenya in line with the Assembly’s a rotational arrangement.

"Our fore fathers supported the idea of rotational sittings because it enhances the visibility of the East African Community, it increases public awareness and participation of the people in the integration process,” said EALA Speaker Joseph Ntakirutimana, adding this also provides an opportunity for Heads of State to speak to East Africans of their vision for a united and prosperous EAC.