The United Kingdom is set to enter into a trade pact with the East African Community member countries including Rwanda, as London has entered into a one-year transition phase to leave the European Union, an official source revealed Tuesday in Kigali.
Currently, during the one-year transition period set to end on December 31, the UK- EAC trade engagement will be under European Union protocol where most regional countries including Rwanda apply the Everything But Arms treaty.
The UK High Commissioner to Rwanda, Jo Lomas, confirmed that they are looking to negotiate a trade deal somewhat similar to EAC’s Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union.
“We are looking to have a trade deal with the EAC, along the lines of what was agreed upon by the EU. Ultimately, we would like to be negotiating something more ambitious but we are keen not to disrupt trade,” the British diplomat said.
Currently, the existing EAC-EU Economic Partnership Agreement, that was under negotiations for over 5 years, was only signed by two countries, Rwanda and Kenya.
Ahead of the signing by the two countries, there were concerns by some regional countries that the deal could pose a risk to regional economies as their infant industries would face unfair competition due to products from the European Union flooding the regional markets.
Researchers, economists and policymakers believe that effective implementation of the new deal with UK will yield enormous opportunities for the East African region.
Teddy Kaberuka, an economist expert based in Kigali, told APA that the trade pact will boost interstate economic exchanges.
The UK is also negotiating with other blocs and countries, including the EU, it said.
CU/abj/APA