On Wednesday Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and his Rwandan
counterpart Paul Kagame used their national identity cards as travel documents
to cross into enter Uganda.
Never mind that they did so at Entebbe airport – it would
have been a more powerful statement if they did it at their respective borders
with Uganda, but the symbolism of this gesture could not be lost on anyone.
The plan is that starting in January, citizens of the three
countries will be able to use national IDs, voters’ cards and student cards to
travel across their borders.
Accompanying this are initiatives are moves to make working
in either of the countries easy for its citizens.
Of course the truth of the matter is that our border
communities have been making border crossing without the use of a passport for
ages. Not only that have gone to school, worked, started businesses and enjoyed
the social services from across the border. They will be understandably
surprised at what the big deal is about.
This is a classic example of how the political class is
often way behind the people they claim to represent.
Fourteen years after
the reestablishment of the East African Community with the signing by the presidents
of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda it has progressed to a customs union is speeding
along to becoming a monetary union with the final destination being a political
federation.
All these plans are all very well on paper but they mean
nothing without the free movement of people and capital across the region.
We take it for granted but movement of people and the
increasing ease with which they do it has a dramatic impact on the economy. It
is not just a cliché but time is money.
I have been told stories of how during the previous East
African Community one could deposit money on their post office account in
Mombasa, take the train and withdraw your money all the way across the region
in Kasese using just your post office pass book. That may sound rather dated in
this era of the ATM card but it was a big deal then and had implications for
the economy at the time.
Just think the losses traders and individuals would make if
they were to stop at every district border on a Kampala-Mbarara trip? A three hour
journey would be stretched out into an overnight journey and the added costs
that come with food and board. As it is now you can ferry fish from Masaka to
Kampala on the back of pickups a feat which would not be possible with numerous
delays along the way. The traders would have to invest in cooling vans which
would raise the cost of production and the eventual cost of the fish on our
menus.
The Schengen area in Europe is a step higher than what we
are attempting in East Africa. The 22-member states that constitute this
borderless region, have done away with border protocols among themselves.
Research into the benefits of this have found that trade grows 0.1% a year
between neighbouring states.
One can expect the proportion in growth in East Africa will
be higher, if only because we are starting from a lower base of inter-country
trade.
The researchers into the economic benefits to the Schengen
found that the benefits came from the immigrants being ready markets for goods
from their home countries, immigrants also reduced the risk in signing
contracts or sourcing produce from their home countries.
Fast tracking the free movement not only of people but of
labour across, the region will have incalculable benefits to the economies of
the region and will make future efforts at monetary union and political
federation more realistic.
