Analysis of the East African Community Integration Process as an Opportunity for Uganda’s Medium-to-Long-Term Development

This paper reviews the key developments of the EAC integration in a manner that paves way for identifying salient gaps in programming to inform medium-term development planning in Uganda. Specifically, the paper identifies the main achievements and challenges registered by the EAC over the past 10 years; appraises Uganda’s optimism on integration, identifying the country’s efforts to mainstream EAC integration agenda and the benefits registered; and recommends measures for accelerating the benefits of integration to Uganda in the medium to long-term. Uganda has benefitted immensely from the EAC integration by exploiting its comparative advantage in certain industries, and has registered growth in exports to the region at unprecedented rates. Trade has grown faster than investment in the region. The country has benefitted from joint coordination of programmes and projects facilitating resource mobilisation for priority projects. The key challenges remain the recurrence of non-trade barriers and the low pace of project execution which hinder accelerated registration of benefits. The East African Community development programming provides an opportunity for the government of Uganda to take advantage of the long-term perspective planning to identify areas for joint coordination and execution with the Partner States of the EAC integration.

The East African Airways Corporation is incorporated. It covered the East African region as well as operated across Africa, connecting also to Europe and India.

1948-1961
The East African High Commission (EACH) is the coordinating body to deal with a customs union, a common external tariff, currency and post-age; and also with common services in transport and communications, research and education.

1961
Following independence, the East African High Commission is replaced by the East African Common Services Organisation (EACSO), which many observers thought would lead to a political federation between the three territories. However, the new organisation suffered from a lack of joint planning and fiscal policy, separate political policies and Kenya's dominant economic position.

1967
Signing of the "Treaty for East African Cooperation" among Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. 1977 Dissolution of the first East African Community.
Rights between themselves, namely; the free movement of goods, persons and of labour/workers, movement of services; movement of capital; and the rights: of Establishment and residence. The key principles that govern the common market include: (i) non-discrimination of nationals of other Partner States on grounds of nationality; (ii) equal treatment to nationals of other Partner States; (iii) ensuring transparency on matters concerning the other Partner States; and (iv) share information for the smooth implementation of the Protocol.
The achievement of the above objectives was considered to be dependent on sectoral achievements (East African Community, 2018). These include: the harmonisation of agricultural policies as well as joint programmes for efficient and effective production; the promotion and enhancement of diverse sports activities and the promotion and preservation of culture; the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases and to control pandemics and epidemics of communicable and vector-borne diseases; harmonization of curricula, examination, certification and accreditation institutions; the adoption of policies and mechanisms; prevention, arrest and reversal of the effects of environmental degradation as well as management and the sustainable utilisation of natural resources; the adoption of common approaches towards the disadvantaged and marginalised groups, including women, children, the youth, the elderly and persons with disabilities; undertaking joint action towards the prevention and control of communicable and non-communicable diseases and to control pandemics and epidemics of communicable and vector-borne diseases; adoption of common policies and procedures; improving the competitiveness of the industrial sector; coordination, harmonisation and complementing transport and communications policies; improving and expanding the existing transport and communication links; the promotion of a continuous dialogue with the private sector to help create an improved business environment and enhancing investor confidence in the region; co-operation and consultations on issues pertaining to peace and security of the Partner States; collective promotion and marketing of the community as a Single Tourist Destination; and rationalisation of investments and the full use of established industries to promote efficiency in production, as well as harmonising trade policies, investment incentives and product standards.
The EAMU Protocol was adopted and signed in 2013 as a foundation for a monetary union within 10 years. This is expected to allow the EAC Partner States to progressively converge their currencies into a single currency in the Community. Prior to achieving a single currency, the EAC Partner States are

This is provided for under Article 5(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African
Community and founded on three pillars: common foreign and security policies, good governance and effective implementation of the prior stages of regional integration. The process for attaining the political federation is supported by the heads of state resolution at their Special Summit held in 2004.
After consultations by the "Wako" committee set up by the heads of state summit on Fast-Tracking the There remains a deficiency in the services the region requires to make the integration system work effectively and efficiently to achieve its objectives. Continuous effort to bridge gaps in services including the provision of information to stakeholders, at all levels of strategic decision making, planning, implementation, and reporting will eventually lead to lower costs of trade and make products competitive in international markets. There is a lot that has taken place to implement the decisions made on regional integration, but information remains scanty in providing concise track of the developments to inform further planning. Looking at Uganda's development trajectory, there has been a deceleration in economic growth over the last five years yet during the period when the country just restored comprehensive development planning. The period when growth was slowing is also that when the services sector was leading the rest of the economy, and the productive sectors were not transforming as envisaged in the development plans and the long-term vision.
In view of the above, the following questions are critical for the EAC: what have been the main processes of EAC integration to date? what have been the outputs and outcomes of the EAC integration since its revival? what has Uganda as a participating member state achieved from regional Integration to date? Can Uganda further its benefits from this integration arrangement in view of its long-term development perspectives and the medium-term interventions?
These questions are important in order to appreciate how the services sector backed growth through trade and investment could pull the economy's growth back to higher rates by binding responsively the agriculture and industrial sectors in development as stipulated in Uganda Vision 2040, and ensure the fundamental inputs are aligned to the opportunities presented by integration.

Objectives of This Report
The main objective of this analysis is to trace the key developments of the EAC integration in a concise manner and identify salient gaps to inform medium-term development planning.
Specifically, the paper identifies the main achievements and challenges registered by the EAC over the past 10 years; reviews Uganda's optimism by identifying the country's efforts to mainstream EAC integration and the benefits registered; and finally recommends measures for accelerating the benefits of integration to Uganda in the medium to long-term.

Methodology
The review process involved extensive review of literature. Access to these reports was made possible by having access to library materials at the EAC headquarters in Arusha. This was supplemented by limited discussion with a few experts on the EAC integration process.

Dynamic Scan of the Strategic Integration Environment
A lot of effort has been exerted at improving the internal and external environment for the EAC integration. A comparison of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats identified by the EAC over the last decade indicates that the community has been able to increase its strengths, weakly dealt with the weaknesses, got exposed to more opportunities, and reduced threats to its existence. Between 2010 and 2017, the EAC took steps to improve its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The major actions taken to improve this environment are summarised in Table 2. ii) Strengthened the mandates and capacities of the regional institutions and organs and national coordination to manage effectively the pace of regional integration.
iii) Prioritised intervention programmes for shared benefits of regional integration including efficient use of the natural resources to improve the wellbeing of East Africans. iv) Targeted building a regional economy to take advantage of the large regional market.
v) Better and appropriate interventions that ensured full and efficient utilisation of the human resource base in the region in the integration process, especially while implementing the common market.
vi) Enhanced e-business opportunities.
vii) Strengthened joint action in pursuit of common foreign policy interests.
viii) Built consensus on the medium-term and long-term priorities.
Weaknesses i) Fast-tracked the Tripartite Arrangement.
ii) Promoted good governance.
iii) Created, promoted and pursued democratization and governance processes. iv) Formulated and operationalised a regionally shared long-term development vision and mission. v) Continued the harmonisation of national and regional policies, laws and regulations in support of the common market.
vi) Endeavoured to improve and equitably distribute economic and social infrastructure.
vii) Worked on the establishment of the strong foundations for the establishment of the Monetary Union and Political Federation.
viii) Developed mechanisms and options for mobilizing diverse resource for effective implementation of the regional programmes.
ix) Deepened stakeholder representation in all matters related to the integration process.
x) Built and strengthened national and regional institutional capacities for speedy implementation of regional programmes.
xi) Continued the harmonization of policies, laws and regulations.
xii) Enforced the regional monitoring and evaluation framework for enhanced strategic planning, coordination and accountability mechanisms.
xiii) Leveraged newer technologies to enhance production and productivity. xiv) Promoted research and technology.
xv) Developed Technical skills.
xvi) Institutionalize long term urban planning.

Opportunities
i) The EAC made use of global initiatives to design appropriate interventions, mobilise resources and expand markets for East African goods and services.
ii) Took advantage of the prospects of tripartite arrangement which widened the market of the Community.
iii) Built and promoted good relations with supportive multilateral and bi-lateral development partners to source financial resources and create an enabling environment for integrating EAC into other regional and global trade and financial institutions.
iv) Promoted cooperation with other regional blocs to spearhead beneficial changes in global matters that affect the region. v) Took advantage of the expanded ICT capacity to promote back-office employment opportunities.
vi) Promoted a positive international perception of EAC region. vii) Took advantage of the global optic-fibre connectivity.
Threats i) Prioritised country specific flagship programmes to address differences in the economies of the Partner States to remove fears and concerns about the benefits of the Community.
ii) Sustained the spirit of joint pursuit of common foreign policies including negotiating as a bloc in order to strengthen the regions position and voice in the global competitive environment.
iii) Continuously supported regional initiatives in pursuit of peace and stability. iv) Created a common approach and understanding of development and democratisation processes.
v) Designed and implemented strategies to minimise the impacts of global warming and environmental degradation.
vi) Tapped into the expertise of the Diaspora through appropriate interventions to create more attractive economic, social and political incentives to allow full participation of the diverse professionals for purposes of building the regional economies.
vii) The community collaborated with relevant international institutions to contain terrorism and piracy.
viii) Promoted the spirit of being East African and nurtured integrationist-oriented mind-sets.
Source: EAC Secretariat-4 th and 5 th EAC Development Strategies.

Challenges
Strategic challenges of the EAC include: (i) delays in the harmonization of national laws that impact on the implementation of protocols and (ii) understaffing, which impacts on effectiveness and efficiency in implementation of projects and programmes. By 2017, operational challenges in the implementation of community programmes and projects included: (i) persistent delays in remittance of funds from Partner States and development partners, and (ii) limited financial resources leading to the overall budget declining yet the demand for services is increasing on the Community to deliver more and this is occasioned by reduced support from Development Partners.
The customs union faced the following challenges as at end of 2017: (i) the establishment of a Customs Authority at regional level is a long-term process that is not achievable in a five year period of a single development strategy; (ii) there have been frequent requests for stays of application that undermine the uniformity in application of the CET; (iii) low levels of customs compliance and the slow process of developing, enacting and assenting to regional laws; (iv) variance in the pace of implementation of community decisions by Partner States; and (v) continuous re-occurrence of customs-related NTBs arising from administrative and procedural processes (as presented in annex 3); (vi) inadequate resources to develop integrated ICT Systems at regional and national levels; (vii) the slow process of harmonization of domestic taxes; (viii) lack of a monitoring and evaluation tool for the Customs Union; (ix) slow pace in finalisation of the harmonization of domestic tax laws; ( relationship between AU and regional economic communities (RECs). Further, there was low connectivity between the regional (EACWARN) and National Early Warning Systems, as well as other RECs' early warning systems. Lastly, the effectiveness of the Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) control programs was limited by inadequate capacity to monitor and timely respond to SALW inflow, and the insufficient cooperation to ensure effective law enforcement.
The road infrastructure sector was challenged by insufficient internal budgetary provisions to implement strategies; inadequate internal funding of studies and counterpart funding; lengthy procurement processes; aligning complex regional projects to national priorities; and stringent environmental laws in Partner States that causing delays some projects implementation; lengthy negotiations of provisions of regional legislation; delays in assenting to regional Bills; and change of development partners' priorities and freezing of funds for ongoing projects by the Partnership Fund.
The complexity of railway development projects and challenges in procurement processes design affected the accomplishments on infrastructure. There was equally a misalignment between regional projects and national priorities, stringent environmental laws in Partner States, which delayed implementation of some projects, yet also the high financing required for development of railways in Kenya and Uganda without appropriate PPP legislative framework and well established regulations and institutions constrained the wider participation by the private sector, thus limiting competition for the projects.
The civil aviation and airport projects faced challenges that included lack of sufficient financing for feasibility and detailed designs for priority aviation projects, yet also the intra-East African aviation market remained largely closed due to restrictive bilateral agreements. This limited the growth and development of air services in the region. ICT sector like others under infrastructure was affected by insufficient internal budgetary provisions to implement the agreed activities, lengthy procurement processes, delays in ratification of the EAC Protocol on ICT Networks, challenges in national implementation of frameworks adopted at the EAC level such as the EAC Roaming Framework; and the freezing of funds for ongoing projects by the Partnership Fund.
In the meteorology area, delay in conclusion of the institutional review process hampered progression of certain proposed programs, such as the establishment of the East African Centre for Medium Range Weather Forecasting. There was also lack of cost recovery mechanisms for the provision of meteorological services in the Partner States, which limits available funding for modernization of meteorological services.

Risks
Like other Integration blocks, economic integration in East Africa comes with risks and rewards. In adequate information and uncertainty are a source of such risks, which erode national self-confidence among partner states about the benefits of integrating their economies given the costs and risks. The East African Community acknowledges the existence of a number of risks. Highest on the risk scale, the EAC has identified resistance to change and consistent under-funding of the Community.
Resistance to change was considered largely to be arising from the conflict between the desire for sovereignty, yet there is a rationale, as well as benefits of integration. The community has agreed to address these risks by creating more awareness, amending the treaty to give greater powers to the EAC, enforcing sanctions in accordance with treaty provisions, and enhancing community's budgeting and resource management capacity so that there is sufficient prioritisation and efficient utilization of resources. Further, the innovative identification of sustainable sources of resources is deemed critical (East African Community, 2017).
Other risks, though of lower significance include: the lack of adequate awareness of obligations under the Treaty and the functions of the Community by the East African public; fear that the Treaty amendment and proposals of EAC Organs and Institutions will not be fully effected; inadequate Staff and Equipment; dependency on donor support for core functions in the prevailing situation characterized by global economic uncertainties; fear by some institutions in partner states of ceding powers and authority to Community Organs and Institutions; political instability and conflict in the region and beyond; negative perception of the EAC by some Partner States' Civil Servants; and lack of loyalty by some of the Community Staff.

Key Objective Based Deliveries and Achievements
Assessment of the performance of the community is based on the aspiration to attain a prosperous, and judicial affairs.
Key deliverables have been made by the EAC, and here below is a presentation of some of these developments as at end of 2016/17 financial year. Below is an analysis of the achievements over time in regards the mandate of the integration arrangement, by development eras.

Attainment of sustainable growth and development of the Partner States
As a result of the efforts of the customs union, the EAC by end of 2010 was confident that there was progress with the diversification of products, improvement in market access, and business activities for the region's SMEs (East African Community, 2011

Strengthening and consolidation of cooperation in agreed fields
Under the Customs Union, the community sought to liberalize and promote intra-regional trade; promote efficiency in production in response to intra-region competition among businesses,  institutions, systems, instruments, legal framework (in particular, the EAC Customs Management Act), concluded the regional Competition Act (2006) harmonization of academic and professional qualifications; free movement of capital and harmonization of transport facilitating instruments.
In the period of the fourth regional strategic plan ( integration of financial market infrastructure; development of regional bond market; and capacity building for EAC Secretariat, regulatory agencies and market participants.
In 2017, the republics of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda ratified the EAC double taxation agreement and the other partner states were expected to follow. This is aimed at avoiding double taxation across the partner states. The Protocol for its establishment was signed by the EAC Heads of State in 2013, and entered into force in 2014. The protocol covers banking, insurance, capital markets and the pension sector.
Attaining and maintaining macroeconomic convergence is presumed dependent on a set of Primary and Secondary Performance Convergence Criteria to be met by 2021 so that a single currency is introduced   In regard to the political federation, between 1999 and 2010, the community gained from the establishment of the cardinal regional institutions (such as the Parliament and Court) which were linked to national frameworks. Regional mechanisms and programmes for early warning and disaster preparedness, Conflict Prevention Management and Resolution (CPMR), refugee management, In the period 2011-2016, initiatives for the political federation centred on foundational stages of the federation, particularly in five key intervention areas: (i) establishing policy frameworks and institutional structures for the establishment of the federation, (ii) strengthening regional and international relations, (iii) promotion of regional peace and security, (iv) developing research capacities on governance, international relations and peace & security, and (v) strengthening defence co-operation to promote regional peace and security. Progress was made in line with the objectives of the political federation. Among the achievements is creation of a platform for national institutions of governance to exchange information, share experiences and dialogue on policies, strategies, laws and programs with a view to developing regional standards. This was facilitated by the EAC Program on Good Governance.
The Council established a Forum of National Human Rights Institutions to facilitate the work of the Human Rights and Social Justice Sector. The forum evaluated the national constitutions and other international instruments in order to standardize and adopt best practices. Further, a Forum of Electoral Commissions was established as a regional platform for National Electoral Commissions to share experiences, challenges and best practices in organizing and conducting democratic, free, fair and credible elections. The forum aims to enhance the harmonization of democratization processes. The principles on election observation and evaluation applicable to guiding election observation in the region and promote credibility of electoral processes and outcomes; and a policy framework for the

Promotion of people-centred mutual development
Health: In the period 2006-2010, the community strengthened regional cooperation and integration in the health sector through the harmonization of national policies, legislation, strategies, standards, guidelines, databases and regulatory systems. Among the policies harmonised are pharmaceutical policies, food safety and quality policies, and disease surveillance, university medical and dental schools curricula, sexual and reproductive health policies. These were geared towards enhancing provision of regional health services, cross-border disease prevention and control.  In regard to the railways, the improvement of railway transport aims to maximize benefits from an  In regard to meteorology, the application of weather, climate and hydrological information and related services helps improve the safety and well-being of people and reduces damage to property, reduces poverty, improves safety of the transport sector and helps in monitoring and protecting the environment for future generations. Meteorological services are expected to contribute to disaster risk reduction. implemented the pilot project for severe weather.
In regard to information technology and communication (telecommunication, postal services broadcasting, internet services and information technology) the community is aiming to integrate ICT into the regional development. The community developed a regional framework for harmonization of ICT policies and regulations, deployed the submarine cable networks to improve international connectivity, the preparation of a detailed feasibility study for the establishment of cross-border broadband networks, developed a regional legal framework for Cyber laws, prepared a roadmap for the smooth transition from analog to digital broadcasting, and developed a strategy to reform the postal

Promotion of peace, security and stability
Within the framework of the fourth pillar of the EAC integration, a lot has been achieved in regards this objective. As discussed above, priorities included the enabling legal and institutional framework; inter-State security; Conflict Prevention, Management and Resolution (CPMR), and the areas of the political federation related to strategic security. The details are already discussed under the review of the strengthening and consolidation of cooperation in agreed fields.

Overall Rating of the East African Integration Status, 2017
EAC is the highest performing REC on Trade integration in Africa. Using the comparisons of average scores by REC on Trade integration based on the African integration index, of the five dimensions, trade integration has the highest score overall among RECs with a 0.55 average, on a scale of zero to one.
Uganda is second to Kenya in this assessment. Overall the region's performance has been above average on account of trade integration and free movement of persons. Financial integration presents the greatest remaining challenge in the integration, followed by infrastructure.

Discussion
Uganda's commitment to economic integration in Africa cannot be over emphasized when the

Why Uganda Has Embraced EAC Integration
Economic integration is expected to facilitate the transformation of the Ugandan Society from a peasant to a modern and prosperous country when the citizens maximize benefits accruing from EAC Integration. In order to facilitate Ugandans gain market access and Ugandan firms become competitive government of Uganda developed the national policy on EAC integration. EAC integration is also facilitating improved joint decision making and collaboration. This joint decision making and collaboration enhances the attainment of peace as constructive dialogue helps in resolving conflict thus becoming a deterring to violent conflicts between the integrated nations. The EAC integration policy promotes peace within Uganda as a requisite for the development of the people; and promotes economic, social and political stability as necessities for poverty reduction and development.
EAC integration implies lower barriers to trade for Ugandans, and the increase in trade will result in their increased well-being. Increased demand due to lower cost of production and consumption is expected to create greater demand for factors of production, leading to an increase employment.
Increase in intra-trade with in the region will lead to higher production in agriculture and industry. Ugandans expectations regarding benefits from the Integration of EAC are observed across a wide range of areas, though not limited to the following: a significant increase in the country's share of the EAC regional trade in order to create wealth and employment; improvement in the competitiveness of the country's industrial sector within the EAC region and the contribution to the structural transformation of the economy; increased national share of EAC regional agricultural trade and its contribution to food security and national agricultural production; adequate and affordable access to modern energy by all Ugandans sustainable manner; the development of an efficient, competitive, and sustainable minerals sector; Increased integration into regional and global markets through increased, efficient and least-cost connectivity; a developed, popular and competitive tourism sector integrated within in the EAC development programme; an enabling local environment for the development of a well-regulated, and vibrant, business services sector able to compete effectively within the EAC region; a financial sector that is fully integrated with financial sectors of the other EAC Partner States in order to achieve monetary stability; the country's health system is integrated, efficient and attractive to citizens of other member countries; improved competitiveness of Ugandan labour, generating decent employment for all women and men in conditions of freedom, equity, security and human dignity; meaningful participation of the country's special interest groups; popular development activities and measures that will ensure a clean and health environment and sustainable exploitation of Uganda's natural resources; peace and security is popular and consolidate through constitutionalism and and skills development), financial and macroeconomic integration (when capital flows freely across Africa, investment increases and finance is allocated where it can generate the most productivity).

Analysis of Uganda's Performance of Integration
In regard to free movement of persons, Uganda allows nationals of all other African countries to either enter without a visa or obtain a visa on arrival. Uganda has ratified the relevant East African Community instrument on the free movement of persons, and is yet to ratify that of the COMESA. The country is ranked joint-third in East African Community and second in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. On trade integration, Uganda is the second best in the East African Community and fifth in COMESA because of progress made in removing tariff barriers to imports from other countries that belong to the same regional economic communities. In addition to applying zero tariffs to imports from other member countries, it applies a low average tariff of 0.68 percent to imports from COMESA. By 2015, Uganda applied the lowest average tariffs on imports from IGAD countries, at 0.1 percent.
In regard to productive integration, the country's trade complements that of the other countries that belong to the same regional economic communities, indicating that it may be specializing to fit into  ii. Share of intra-regional goods exports (% GDP) 0.022 0.022 0.008 0.018 0.004 iii. Share of intra-regional goods imports (% GDP) 0.037 0.007 0.011 0.098 0.092 iv. Share of total Intra-regional goods trade ( Note. UG=Uganda; KY=Kenya; TZ=Tanzania; RW=Rwanda; BR=Burundi. Data Source: Integrate-Africa (2018).

Country Similarities
There are key questions in explaining comparative advantage although other differences may be a result of policy when it comes to the cost of resource endowments or even traded products, arising from tax, transportation and insurance cover. These relate to whether Uganda produces anything more efficiently than other East African Countries such that it would gain more from specializing in it to trade best with other nation; and whether Uganda has better technology over the other EAC members, or the difference is in abundance of natural resources. Advantages may arise from abundance of either primary or intermediate input, the use of better technology and production on larger scale (Shinyekwa & Othieno, 2011). The analysis by Shinyekwa and Othieno (2011) identified the commodities where Uganda has comparative advantage over the other EAC partner states; which would increase intra-regional trade to increase Uganda's benefits to EAC integration. The list they produced includes agricultural products with limited processing exported to Kenya; fresh and processed agricultural products, chemical products, industrial products made out of steel and iron, and petroleum by-products exported to Rwanda; foods and livestock, tobacco, petroleum products, chemical products, a range of plastic products, and some products of iron and steel exported to Tanzania; and foods, cement, chemical products, petroleum products, plastic products, wood products, stationery, and articles of steel and iron exported to Burundi, as constituting the areas of Uganda's revealed comparative advantage in the EAC. Elimination of tariffs boosted trade among the EAC partner sates and by 2009 Uganda had advantage over the EAC partner states in 41 (Kenya), 103 (Rwanda), 48 (Tanzania), and 86 (Burundi) commodities. There are a lot of similarities in the EAC region in regards endowments however, and value addition would be a key ingredient to maintaining Uganda's benefits from trade. The diversification of the export basket and facilitating value addition to traditional exports is seen as a means to increase Uganda's export demand beyond east Africa, to the COMESA for instance (Katunze & Kuteesa, 2016). By 2014, the country maintained the revealed comparative advantage across industries particularly; animals, vegetables, food production, wood, textiles & cloth, stone & glass and metals for the COMESA region which excludes only Tanzania of the EAC states, but includes Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Sudan the other key Ugandan neighbours with a large market size.    (Table 8). In the area of trade, Uganda has cautiously stood with her partner states in joint negotiations with the rest of the world to gain access to larger markets such as the European Union and the United States. In this case the EU-EPA negotiations and the AGOA arrangement are yet to benefit the country. Uganda has not yet signed the EPA due to lack of consensus in the region, despite the conclusion of the negotiations in 2014. By 2017 the EAC still has unresolved issues with the agreement, most fears being on the likely effect on the region's industrialisation in future. The issues that EAC and Uganda in particular is party to which the EU needed to address regard strategic industrial development, the denunciation process, development agenda, the rendezvous, joint declaration, and domestic support.
From the agreement nevertheless, the imports from Europe of capital nature (raw materials) which currently attract 65 percent tax would be zero rated. While this leads to industrial development, could lead to loss of tax revenue from imports. g. The region is implementing a project on Harmonization and Strengthening of Regional Pharmaco vigilance and Post Marketing Surveillance Systems in the EAC. In this regard, a tool has been developed to assess Pharmaco Vigilance (PV) systems in EAC Partner States, the regional post marketing surveillance guidelines, and EAC PV policy framework and minimum requirements for PV systems. Further, the country will benefit from a regional strategy to combat SSFFC medical products in the region focusing on prevention, detection and response in line with WHO Plan, which is expected to have been in place by the EAC Secretariat by end of 2017.

Mainstreaming National and Regional Plans
The EAC Vision 2050 provides guidance on the aspirations of the region, which are amplified in the regional strategic plans for the medium term. On the basis of these frameworks, Uganda has a national policy for EAC integration which further guides on the national priorities which various sectors, ministries and MDAs need to prioritise in the local frameworks.

The Regional Medium Term Objectives and Priorities
The 5th development strategy for EAC aims to achieve eleven objectives to be attained over the period 2016/17-2020/21. These objectives include: (i) accelerating and consolidating sustainable production, productivity, value addition, trade and marketing in key regional growth and productive sectors-with emphasis on rural development, agriculture, fisheries, livestock, food and nutrition security, and high value industrialization; (ii) investing in enhancement of the stock and quality of multi-dimensional strategic infrastructure and related services, to support and accelerate sustainable regional integration and competitiveness; (iii) strengthening the social dimensions of the regional integration process to deliver quality, effective and efficient socio-economic services-with emphasis on enhancing human capital development, gainful employment and decent work, health status, as well as overall welfare of the people of East Africa.
(iv) strengthening mechanisms and strategies for ensuring enhanced investment in clean and sustainable energy production and access, as a driver and enabler of economic competitiveness and sustainable regional development; (v) increasing investment in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), as key drivers and enablers of sustainable regional development and socio-economic transformation, as well as creating an enabling environment for their application; (vi) enhancing regional mechanisms and strategies for ensuring sustainable natural resource utilization and conservation, environmental sustainability and climate change management.
(vii) attaining a fully functioning Customs Union; Government of Uganda has a duty to ensure that these objectives are achieved by operationalizing them at national level. The main challenge is that the strategy comes into force when the national plan for the same period was already in place. There are similar strategies reflected in the regional and national plans. These include; the prioritisation of prioritization of enhanced investment in infrastructure The national development plan for Uganda addresses itself to the issues of regional integration in its development context by aiming to leverage the Country's growth opportunities and honour development and partnership obligations at the regional level. The strategic direction of the NDPII clearly outlines the objectives of the medium term the plan with are consistent with the regional strategic plan: In particular, to (i) increase sustainable production, productivity and value addition in key growth opportunities; (ii) increase the stock and quality of strategic infrastructure to accelerate the country's competitiveness; (iii) enhancing human capital development; and (iv) strengthening mechanisms for quality, effective and efficient service delivery. The strategies: (i) ensuring macro-economic stability; (ii) industrialization and export oriented growth through value addition, agro processing, mineral beneficiation, selected heavy and light manufacturing; (iii) an employment creation strategy through fast tracking skills development and harnessing the demographic dividend; (iv) strong Public/Private Partnerships (PPPs) for sustainable development; and (vi) strengthening governance mechanisms and structures are in line with the objectives at regional level. This indicates the high level of consistency between the regional and national development plans.

Sector Development Plans
The process of harmonizing sectoral development plans and the EAC development strategy is through the sector's careful selection of interventions that contribute to the national objectives, which also have a regional outlook in terms of attracting resources, and making the country more competitive, or taking advantage of the opportunities created by integration. The national policy on EAC integration provides critical guidance on the key areas of development that harmonised national development with regional integration (Republic of Uganda, 2015). It is important that sector development planning processes take into account the policy provisions in order to make Uganda match along with the rest of EAC and enable the country to take advantage of regional resources. Responsibilities of each sector, ministry, agency and department are articulated in the national policy on EAC integration.

Institutional Structures and Coordination
The republic of Uganda has set up relevant structures for the coordination of the activities of the EAC Integration. In particular, the Ministry of East African Integration (MEACA) was set up in 2007 as a fully-fledged Ministry with a vote and its own Accounting Officer. The mandate of the ministry is to "steer Uganda's regional integration agenda in accordance with the objectives of the Treaty for establishment of East African Community". MEACA therefore promotes Uganda's interests in the pursuit of East African Regional Integration. In particular, MEACA initiates and develops policies that support East African Community integration; provides leadership in the negotiation process including the development of country positions; follows-up the implementation of EAC Summit and Council decisions as well as directives as a way of ensuring compliance; conducts research on the impact of EAC regional Integration to inform Policy actions; sensitizes and creates awareness about the progress and benefits of EAC integration and enhance participation of all stakeholders including the Public, and Civil Society on EAC regional integration matters to enhance participation; and fosters cooperation arrangements with other Regional and International Organizations whose activities have a bearing on the objectives of EAC.
At regional level, the organs of the community namely, Lake Victoria Basin Commission ( Kiswahili Commission (EAKC), and East African Community Competition Authority (EACA) are in place to handle specific areas of mutual interest to the region. A selected list of activities they will be undertaking in the medium term to Uganda can take advantage are provided in annex 4. The MDAs whose mandate is associated with the organs of the EAC have a duty to closely work together in developing strategies for implementing the regional agenda and in the process harness synergies that enhance the realisation of the country's development aspirations.

Financing of Regional Priorities and Projects
The EAC has developed mechanisms for the joint mobilisation of resources for development financing as art of the framework of the regional strategic development plans. In February 2018, a retreat of Heads of State was held under the theme "development of resilient infrastructure to achieve industrialisation and support trade to foster socioeconomic transformation in the EAC". In such retreats, flagship projects are considered. For Uganda, the following projects were included among the regional  While these projects will be executed by the partner states in regards to financing, there is joint coordination of the resourcing, and implementation to ensure timely completion. This calls for efficient programming in order to remain on course. Project teams need to be vigilant, efficient and effective to make the projects succeed.
In a similar manner, projects in the area of health have been fronted jointly. In particular, MEACA is reported to have coordinated 5 EAC sectoral council of health ministers, at which health priorities for the region have been articulated. Annex 5 presents the details of the priorities of the sector. These priorities were presented to the Heads of State Summit in February 2018. Such processes benefit Uganda in its efforts to transform the economy and its people.

Prospects and the Outlook
There are positive socioeconomic transformation prospects from the existing efforts for regional integration in the EAC. The application of the electronic cargo tracking system enhanced on the Northern corridor is expected to be extended to the central corridor by April 2018 to support the implementation of the single customs territory and other trade facilitation initiatives.
In March 2018, the EAC was expected to host the 4 th world customs organisation Authorised Economic Operator ( it was recommended that there should be harmonisation of the age limit for imported used motor vehicles. This is intended to promote local assembly of affordable motor vehicles in the EAC starting 2018/19; and in regard to the Monetary Union, the bill for the establishment of the monetary institute was before the legislative assembly for consideration into law. This is in line with ensuring that the monetary union is realised by 2024.

Conclusions and Recommendations
This review has traced the key developments of the EAC integration and has identified gaps in programming to inform medium-term development planning. The EAC has made many achievements along the pillars of integration, making it possible it possible to increase the volume of trade and investment in the region, has enabled the free movement of persons across national borders without visas. Key challenges remain, especially those to deal with nontrade barriers that keep re-occurring; a slow pace in the implementation of decisions made by the council; and irregular contribution by member states of their financing obligations which slows the pace of implementation of regional decisions. The regional market has increased for all member states and the EAC is ranked the best model of integration in Africa.
Uganda has benefitted immensely from the EAC integration by exploiting its comparative advantage in certain industries, and has registered growth in exports to the region at unprecedented rates. Trade has grown faster than investment in the region. The country has benefitted from joint coordination of programmes and projects facilitating resource mobilisation for priority projects. Uganda has been exposed to a larger market and benefits from the greater voice of the region in negotiating for access to larger markets in the US and EU. The key challenges remain the recurrence of non-trade barriers and the low pace of project execution which hinder accelerated registration of benefits. The East African Community development programming provides an opportunity for the government of Uganda to take advantage of the long-term perspective planning to identify areas for joint coordination and execution with the Partner States of the EAC integration.
In order to benefit fully from the EAC integration initiative, there is need to implement the policy on integration without any reservation. Other recommendations include the following: increase awareness about the market opportunities among Ugandans in order for them to take greater advantage; minimise the introduction of NTBs against partner states to assure partner states of the resolve to fully integrate with them in the region; improve capacity for Uganda's project identification, formulation and development process in order to match the speed that other partner states especially Kenya and Tanzania employs in the execution of regional projects; invest more in SMEs and other private sector initiatives that have orientation towards exploiting the markets that have been created within and outside the region, by increasing their productivity. The SMEs require education grants and development finance for them to take up greater risk in exploiting regional opportunities; strengthen the Ministry of EACA for it to effectively coordinate and popularise the integration agenda. There is need to expand the scope of the Ministry to also deal with COMESA and SADC in a more succinct manner, and enable Ugandans take advantage of the opportunities this creates; prioritise the development of the ten year perspective plans for the country to effectively coordinate master plans of sectors so that that provides a platform for selection and appraisal of regional projects; increase the country's response mechanism to understudy regional laws, protocols and policies to reduce the time to decide on each framework and ensure timely signing, ratification and domestication; and fast track the resourcing and implementation of projects expected to increase the country's competitiveness, to enable the country sustain its comparative advantage so far demonstrated.