Having been considered as a dormant continent for long, Africa is now the fastest growing continent in the world. This may look as an overstatement but a keen economic survey confirms this. The rapid growth is attributed to the natural resources that dot this continent from one corner to the other. Looking at the continent economic growth without factoring the East African development will not give a true picture given that much of this growth is as a result of rapid economic expansion in East African countries.
The countries that make East African community include Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi although there are other countries that also lie at the horn of Africa. Rwanda has continuously featured as the fastest developing country within the community although Kenya remains the economic giant among the member states.
The recent discovery of large oil reserves in Kenya and Uganda has completely changed the perception of major international investors who now see it as an alternative investment region. The situation is even made better by the presence of other specious minerals such as copper, diamond, titanium, soda ash among many others.
It is the increase interest in these countries by the foreign investors that actually portrays the real picture of high economic growth rate. After emerging from a turbulent election in 2007, Kenyan economy has picked up attracting several multinational firms that are setting up their regional headquarters in Nairobi (Capital City of Kenya) with the focus of serving the entire Eastern and Central African Market.
The most visible evidence of the faster rate of East African development can be seen from the infrastructural improvement in the region. The Kenyan port city of Mombasa which remains the main sea entry point to the region has seen the expansion of the ports. This is meant to accommodate more ships of larger capacity which aims to meet the demand created by the regional market.
The integration of the countries within the region to form East African Community is at advanced stage. The last phases of the plan intend to have the member states operate with the single currency and a single passport. This will greatly boost trade within these countries in addition to making them tourist destination of choice.
The major challenge facing East African development has to do with threat of terrorism and insecurity in general. The countries shares border with Somalia which has remained a conflict zone for decades and in home to Alshabaab- one of the largest terrorist organization in the world today. In addition to occasional terrorist attacks, there is high rate of firearm smuggling through the porous borders of these countries resulting to major insecurity challenges.
Other social challenges that are slowing down this economic development include high rate of population growth that results to a situation where many youths are jobless. The effect is that there is an increase in rural urban immigration that translates to expansion of slam settlement. This accompanied with many social evils and the threat of HIV results to a less productive population.
One of the major assets that remain untapped lies in the area of agriculture. Backed with good climate and several lakes and rivers, the region lies in fertile land that will be able to produce enough food to sustain the population and leave enough for export hence solving unemployment problems and fostering East African development plan.
The countries that make East African community include Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi although there are other countries that also lie at the horn of Africa. Rwanda has continuously featured as the fastest developing country within the community although Kenya remains the economic giant among the member states.
The recent discovery of large oil reserves in Kenya and Uganda has completely changed the perception of major international investors who now see it as an alternative investment region. The situation is even made better by the presence of other specious minerals such as copper, diamond, titanium, soda ash among many others.
It is the increase interest in these countries by the foreign investors that actually portrays the real picture of high economic growth rate. After emerging from a turbulent election in 2007, Kenyan economy has picked up attracting several multinational firms that are setting up their regional headquarters in Nairobi (Capital City of Kenya) with the focus of serving the entire Eastern and Central African Market.
The most visible evidence of the faster rate of East African development can be seen from the infrastructural improvement in the region. The Kenyan port city of Mombasa which remains the main sea entry point to the region has seen the expansion of the ports. This is meant to accommodate more ships of larger capacity which aims to meet the demand created by the regional market.
The integration of the countries within the region to form East African Community is at advanced stage. The last phases of the plan intend to have the member states operate with the single currency and a single passport. This will greatly boost trade within these countries in addition to making them tourist destination of choice.
The major challenge facing East African development has to do with threat of terrorism and insecurity in general. The countries shares border with Somalia which has remained a conflict zone for decades and in home to Alshabaab- one of the largest terrorist organization in the world today. In addition to occasional terrorist attacks, there is high rate of firearm smuggling through the porous borders of these countries resulting to major insecurity challenges.
Other social challenges that are slowing down this economic development include high rate of population growth that results to a situation where many youths are jobless. The effect is that there is an increase in rural urban immigration that translates to expansion of slam settlement. This accompanied with many social evils and the threat of HIV results to a less productive population.
One of the major assets that remain untapped lies in the area of agriculture. Backed with good climate and several lakes and rivers, the region lies in fertile land that will be able to produce enough food to sustain the population and leave enough for export hence solving unemployment problems and fostering East African development plan.
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