According to EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki, the ministers are expected to make a decision soon on the location of the East African Monetary Institute, the precursor to the East African Central Bank that will issue the single currency.
"This year will are going to finalise where we will have the East Africa Monetary institute – the constitution that will create a roadmap for having one currency. Hopefully in the next 3-4 years will have a common currency," said Mr Mathuki.
"The single currency will ease business and movement of persons within the region. It is in line with our goal to make the region borderless so that people can move and trade freely as envisioned in the Common Market Protocol."
Mathuki added that trade between member states has improved, with the value of intra-EAC trade in 2022 standing at $9.5 billion compared to $7.1 billion in 2019.
Mathuki attributed the increase in intra-regional trade to political goodwill among the members.
"The high-level discussions among the Heads of State had eliminated many non-tariff barriers hampering intra-regional trade and expressed hope that this and other factors would help raise the level of intra-regional trade in East Africa to at least 40% over the next five years," added the EAC Secretary General.
On admission of Somalia to the EAC, Mathuki stated that they are sending a verification mission to Somalia that will assess the country's readiness to join the community by the end of January.
Mathuki described Somalia’s long Indian Ocean Red Sea route that links Africa to the Arabian Peninsula as a vibrant economic zone saying that it will bring immense benefits to the EAC.
"The exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish and the expansive coastline is also set to boost the regional economy," he said.
Mathuki was speaking in Machakos County where he was outlining the priority areas the community will be focusing on in 2023.
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