Can EAC overcome own hurdles to lead Africa’s largest trade bloc?

The TTF brings together three major Regional Economic Communities (RECs), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC), and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and was established to coordinate the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA).

Launched in 2015, the TFTA aims to facilitate market integration, industrial development, and infrastructure expansion across 29 African countries, covering a population of more than 700 million. Yet, nearly a decade later, implementation has lagged behind expectations due to persistent non-tariff barriers, delayed ratifications, and a lack of harmonised customs systems among member states.

On July 25, 2024, the TFTA Agreement officially came into force after securing the required 14 ratifications.

However, the real challenge lies in operationalising the pact, a task that now falls to the EAC as it takes the helm of the TTF. EAC Secretary General, Ms Veronica Nduva, speaking at a high-level roundtable in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, on July 14, 2025, called for a continent-wide resource mobilisation strategy to replace fragmented efforts that have stifled progress. “We must abandon disjointed approaches.

 Africa needs a harmonised strategy for resource mobilisation to realise Agenda 2063 effectively,” she said. “We see the TFTA as a strategic lever to deepen integration, enhance competitiveness, unlock intra-African trade, and advance inclusive industrialisation,” she added.

Ms Nduva also stressed the importance of blended financing models involving public, private, and philanthropic capital, alongside the integration of technology to improve coordination and accountability.

The big question While the EAC’s assumption of leadership is diplomatically significant, the bloc has struggled to implement its integration protocols. Several EAC Partner States have, in the past, failed to honour agreed tariff removals, leading to internal trade disputes and delayed harmonisation efforts.

Trade tensions between Kenya and Tanzania over products such as sugar, maize, and milk have exposed the inconsistent application of EAC trade rules, undermining the bloc’s credibility in broader integration efforts.

According to Dar es Salaam-based regional trade policy analyst, Dr Paul Omollo, the EAC must first address its shortcomings.

“The EAC has made impressive commitments on paper. But implementation remains its Achilles’ heel,” Dr Omollo told The Citizen by telephone. “Taking over TTF leadership is significant, but the EAC must back that up with real reforms at home. It must show that regional integration can work, starting with its borders.” What does chairing the TTF mean? Assuming the TTF chairmanship gives the EAC responsibility for guiding the finalisation of tariff offers, adoption of rules of origin, and encouraging ratification by the remaining states.

The bloc is also expected to spearhead the revival of the TFTA’s industrial development pillar, one of its core components.

“Our focus is to ensure that the TFTA becomes fully operational, not just in name but in action,” said Ms Nduva. “We are pushing for the ratification of both the trade and movement of businesspeople agreements,” she said.

Experts believe this leadership position could enable the EAC to influence harmonised customs policies, coordinated infrastructure investments, and the development of joint industrial zones, provided there is strong political will among member states.

“The TFTA could be a game-changer if it builds synergies across the three RECs,” said a policy adviser at TradeMark Africa, Mr Humphrey Ramela. “The EAC’s leadership is timely. But success depends on aligning national interests with regional ambitions,” he added.

Another key theme from the Malabo roundtable was financial independence, with Ms Nduva reiterating the need for African nations to reduce reliance on external donors and adopt African-led financing models. “Austerity must go hand-in-hand with innovation.

Resources allocated for development must be managed with discipline and efficiency,” she noted.

The African Union Commission Chairperson, Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, echoed this sentiment, calling on member states to finance their development agendas and adopt the instruments required to operationalise the TFTA by the time of the next Tripartite Council of Ministers meeting. “African ownership is not optional; it is the only path to sustainable development,” said Mr Youssouf.

With preparations for the fourth Tripartite Summit underway, during which the TFTA will be formally launched, expectations are high. The EAC’s challenge will be to not only champion regional integration at the tripartite level but also prove its commitment to seamless trade within its borders.