From: wsargeant@IGC.ORG (Winslow L. Sargeant)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african
Subject: IPS:East Africa, spirit of cooperation
Date: 12 Apr 92 21:32:26 GMT

/* Written  1:23 pm  Apr 11, 1992 by newsdesk in cdp:ips.englibrary */
/* ---------- "EAST AFRICA: SPIRIT OF COOPERATION " ---------- */
Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Trade & Finance; Third World Dvpmnt
Title: EAST AFRICA: SPIRIT OF COOPERATION REKINDLED


an inter press service feature

by paul chintowa

dar es salaam, apr 8 (ips) -- after learning their lesson from
the collapse of the east african community (eac) 15 years ago,
kenya, tanzania and uganda want to find out new avenues to
regional economic cooperation.

officials of the three countries are cautious in suggesting
moves toward integration of their economies. they say strategies
that attempt to promote sustainable economic cooperation must
integrate population concerns and aspirations.

''we are still discussing how best we can cooperate without
repeating past mistakes (which led to the break-up of the eac in
1977),'' ahmed hassan diria, tanzania's minister for foreign
affairs and international cooperation, told ips in an interview.

presidents daniel arap moi of kenya, ali hassan mwinyi of
tanzania and yoweri museveni of uganda are due to meet apr. 24
in the northern tanzania town of arusha, the former eac seat, to
confirm their common position.

the three heads of state are expected to seal an accord
which, diria said, ''will work as a blueprint to future economic
cooperation''.

the organisation of african unity (oau) looks upon regional
and sub-regional economic groupings like the southern africa
development coordination conference (sadcc), the economic
community of west african states and the maghreb union, as
building blocs from which an african economic community will
emerge.

for these groupings to retain the potential of fusion into a
consolidated african entity, oau secretary general salim ahmed
salim says, their programmes should increasingly reflect the
need for them to push closer to one another.

the three east african countries are torn apart by their
individual membership in different regional groupings which
overlap in certain fields of operation. their economies have
been under so much strain that they cannot manage to create a
new body without feeling the pinch.

kenya and uganda are members of the intergovernmental
authority on drought and development which includes djibouti,
ethiopia, somalia and sudan.

uganda and tanzania with burundi and rwanda run the kagera
basin organisation whose proposed ventures include building a
2,000-km railway network, a joint telecommunications network and
a hydroelectric dam at rusumo falls (on rwanda-tanzania border).
(more/ips)


east africa: spirit (2)

while only tanzania is a member of sadcc, the three east
african states are under the umbrella of the preferential trade
area for eastern and southern african states (pta).

the pta was formed in 1981 with the aim of improving
commercial and economic cooperation in the region. it plans to
set up a monetary union with a common currency for its 18 member
states in the region.

according to diria, the three east african countries have no
ambition of reviving the eac. their cooperation strategy, likely
to be endorsed by the forthcoming summit meeting at arusha,
would aim to promote the sectors which are integrative such as
transport, communications, trade, scientific research and
agriculture.

''the objective is to have strong east african cooperation,''
diria said.

joint investment programmes and industrial cooperation were
also under consideration, he said, adding that the east african
summit will set up a commission to facilitate and harmonise
economic development.

''there is political will and commitment toward (east
african) economic integration'', uganda's high commissioner to
tanzania, ben matogo, told ips.

''every effort should be made to avoid past mistakes'', he
added, pointing out that consensus of the kenyan, tanzanian and
ugandan leaders would open a new chapter of promoting economic
growth for the benefit of nearly 70 million people in the
region. (end/ips/pc/ar/apc/92)