Kenya, Rwanda ties key in EA’s regional integration bid

The recently concluded East African Business Summit in Kigali, was highlighted by the presence of both President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.

Also present were regional heads of various organisations in the business and political arena.

Over the past decade, the relationship between Kenya and Rwanda has improved tremendously. The economic ties between Nairobi and Kigali have had an impact on the strategic and geopolitical interests of both nations and further re-energised the East African Community.

There are few countries that have re-invented themselves as is the case with Rwanda. The nation experienced genocide in 1994 and the aftermath was an even bigger challenge.

Its economy was brought to a halt. Infrastructure, medical services, education, banking and even free movement of people, goods and services were hindered in one way or the other.

The aggressive policies that followed from 1995 onwards have been bearing fruit in recent years not only for Rwanda but across the region.

The country now has great infrastructure. In East Africa, Rwanda has been named the easiest place to start a new business devoid of unnecessary bureaucracy.

To put into perspective, Bosnia experienced similar genocide which ended in 1995. The reconstruction of Bosnia has been ongoing, but not at the same pace as Rwanda.

Bosnia is still writhing from the effects of the genocide, reconstructing damaged buildings and shuttered infrastructure to date. Therefore, Rwanda should be commended for getting back on its feet and fast-tracking economic growth.

It comes as no wonder that the intense co-operation between Kenya and Rwanda came at a good time.

When former President Mwai Kibaki and President Kagame came together to create this mutual agreement over a decade ago, there were very many favourable circumstances that increased the chances of success. For instance, Rwanda needed doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers and other professionals for a speedy economic recovery.

Kenya, on the other hand, had all these professionals ready to deploy to Kigali. The reciprocity exhibited by these agreements was mutually helpful and it continues to this day.

Like President Kagame said at the just concluded summit, “Kenyans were not coming to take jobs held by Rwandans, they were filling jobs that were crucial to the well being of our country, jobs that just happened to be vacant”.

Over the past one-and-a-half years of President Uhuru’s administration, changes to these agreements have been fine-tuned to accommodate even more mutually advantageous propositions.

The overall movement of goods, services and people has been made easier. Gone are the days of duty, tariffs, dues, value added tax, visas and passports.

The market has been broadened to cover the two nations. Employment opportunities are advertised across the borders. “I have Kenyans working in my office,” said President Kagame.

President Kenyatta gave an example of America, “the US has made its progress by tapping talent from Africa, India and China”.

This rings very true because where would the US be without Google, Amazon, Apple, IBM, 3M and Home Depot? All these companies were either started by foreigners or their children.

Google has Russian lineage to it, so does Home Depot. Steve Job’s dad was an immigrant from Syria. The list is endless.

Therefore, embracing talent from across the borders is an added advantage to employers because they are able to hire talent from a wider pool of potential workers, this in the long run adds value to the region.

Regional competitiveness has its advantages. Competition among companies is a good thing for the consumer. When many companies compete for the consumer’s attention they tend to bring their prices down in order to beat the competition.

When borders are open and companies trade and compete freely within the region, it brings an immeasurable benefit to the people not only via cheaper prices, but also superior quality of goods and better customer care; it is a win-win for all parties.

Just like competitive business, insecurity tends to transverse across the East Africa region as well. Unfortunately, despite the immense headway made in business within the region, terrorism has found its way.

It has encroached into the deepest fabric of our society and it is well camouflaged among us.

The capacity to police, to intervene and curb insecurity could be boosted through partnership among the regional law enforcement agencies.

Information sharing should be the first line of defence. The exchange of intelligence is crucial in war on insecurity. Although the efforts are never made public for obvious reasons, they certainly do exist in some fashion.

As Kenya continues to enjoy strong ties with Rwanda, and as the businesses between the two countries grow at the current fast rate, cooperation between the two nations has also seen an enormous expansion in other areas such as education, agriculture and energy, among other activities.

Mr Karanja is a financial controller based in Los Angeles, US.