The EAC Common Market Scorecard 2014 assesses progress toward the development of a common market in capital, services, and goods across the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC) – Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda.

Focusing on how each EAC Partner States’ laws and regulation conform to their commitments to the EAC Common Market protocol, the report reviews 683 laws and regulations relevant to the common market (124 in capital, 545 in services and 14 in goods) and several legal notices, reports and trade statistics. Its objective is to contribute to the accelerated implementation of the common market, thereby creating more and better opportunities for the private sector. The scorecard was requested by the East African Community Secretariat.

About the EAC Common Market Scorecard

The rationale for creating the EAC Common Market is compelling – it would combine the region’s economies, create new opportunities for the private sector and increase competitiveness. However, a common market requires that people, goods, services and capital move freely.

The EAC Common Market Scorecard measures the degree of Partner States’ legal compliance with their obligations to liberalize the cross-border movement of capital, services and goods.

Strong and integrated financial markets in the region help mobilize domestic capital, raise the amount and productivity of investment, bolster competition in the financial sector, facilitate information flows, and improve corporate governance. They can also help make EAC a more attractive destination for both foreign and domestic investment by shoring up the liquidity of the region’s capital markets and creating financing avenues for investors and issuers.

The services sectors are important for EAC’s growing economy. As the region’s markets expand, so does the share of services in the economy. Services are also a strong avenue for export growth. A dynamic service economy can make significant contributions towards the achievement of EAC’s development objectives of economic diversification, investment, employment generation, poverty reduction and an overall improvement of social welfare.

When goods circulate freely, manufacturers can access this larger market competitively and consumers get better choices and better products.

Why monitor compliance to the Protocol?

The purpose of monitoring the implementation of regional integration arrangements is to ensure that the member countries comply with their obligations. Effective monitoring and addressing identified bottlenecks to implementation can help address constraints connected to integrating economies. It also contributes to good regional governance practices, such as openness, transparency, participation, accountability, and effectiveness.

What the Scorecard measures

The scorecard tracks de jure compliance with commitments by the EAC Partner States to enable free cross-border movement of capital, services and goods. It provides an assessment of de jure compliance rather than de facto implementation of the integration commitments. The analysis is based on a review of 683 laws and regulations relevant to the common market (124 in capital, 545 in services and 14 in goods), along with key legal notices, reports and trade statistics.