Germany, through its official development agency, German Technical Cooperation (GTZ), has granted Euros 1 million to the East African Community (EAC) Partnership Fund.

According to a statement by EAC Secretariat, the grant agreement was signed by Dr. Julius Rotich, EAC Deputy Secretary General (Finance and Administration) and Wolfgang Leidig, the Head of EAC-GTZ Cooperation at the Secretariat headquarters in Lusaka, Tanzania.
Also signed was Second Implementation Agreement between EAC Secretariat and GTZ.

Dr. Rotich hailed the German Government for its continued support to the five-nation regional economic grouping.

"He noted that Germany had doubled their contributions from the previous 1.5 million Euros to Euros 3 million, starting with a contribution of 600,000 Euros in financial year 2009/2010, Euros 1 million in financial year 2010/2011 and a further instalment of Euros 1.4 million expected in FY 2011/2012,” the statement reads in part.

Dr. Rotich said that the signing of multi-year agreements with development partners made it possible to predict the contribution to the Partnership Fund and, therefore, facilitated the development of multi-year plans.

The German Government is also financing the ongoing construction of the EAC headquarters, expected to be completed in August 2011, to the tune of Euros 14 million.

Leidig emphasized the long history of cooperation between Germany and EAC of more than a decade. He said Germany considers the revitalization of the EAC an important and politically challenging task.

The EAC Partnership Fund which receives contributions from development partners to fund activities of EAC regional integration and development. It was launched in September 2006. Currently the fund has 12 members including Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

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