THE STATE OF EAST AFRICA 2012. DEEPENING INTEGRATION, INTENSIFYING CHALLENGES

More than a decade since it was rekindled, the East African Community integration process is deepening, but the challenges facing the integration units and people are intensifying.

Nairobi, 2 April 2012: 'The final responsibility for shaping East Africa’s future lies with its citizens'. This is one of the key conclusions of a new State of East Africa Report 2012: Deepening Integration, Intensifying Challenges, published by the Society for International Development (SID), with support from TradeMark East Africa (TMEA).


The Report, launching on April 4, 2012 at a ceremony presided over by the East African Community (EAC) Secretary General Ambassador (Dr.) Richard Sezibera and SID International President Ambassador Juma Mwapachu at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi at 10am, will open, encourage and inform a wide range of conversations about how the EAC regional integration is proceeding and what it means for ordinary people’s lives.

'Regional integration is a complicated but evolving process that starts and ends with the citizenry', said Ambassador Juma V. Mwapachu, President of SID International and the immediate former EAC Secretary General. 'One of the major goals of the State of East Africa report is to provide policy makers, civil society and the private sector with information and analysis that they can use to advocate their concerns and interests with respect to regional integration'.

The State of East Africa 2012 updates and improves on the inaugural State of East Africa 2006: Trends, Tensions and Contradictions: The Leadership Challenge and it compiles and analyses data across key economic, social and political indicators from the five member states of the EAC.


Some of the report’s key findings and insights are:

There is No Shortcut to Success: The Law of the Farm

Aibu! No, really, the trend that has developed, with everybody living like they are in a Clint Eastwood westerner, is nothing short of despicable. Show me one respectable, wealthy individual who hasn't put in the time and sacrifice to reap the rewards. Nani? Reginald Mengi? Ali Mufuruki? Susan Mashibe? Emelda Mwamanga-Mtunga? Kila mmoja wao put in the time, made the effort, resisted temptation and made sacrifices to get to where they are. Sasa kwanini mimi na wewe tujidai tunajua zaidi na kutafuta dili za kuiba ili tuonekane kama na sisi tumefika? Huo ni ulimbukeni tu wa kawaida. There is no shortcut to success people. Like a farmer who cannot expect to sow today and reap tomorrow ama sleep all year round and start working like mad in the last month and expect to get his or her yield, we must all, in our respective areas, respect the law of the farm.