The World Bank has assured it will work with the East African Community (EAC) partner states to help the economic community achieve full integration. The World Bank programme Manager for South Sudan, Jean Lubega-Kyazze told Xinhua in Nairobi that the project will begin before the end of 2016 and will take three years to complete. She explained that the project aims at helping the EAC overcome the constraints that have prevented full implementation of the EAC Common Market protocol.
According to the financial institution, regional integration holds a lot of promise for the partner states. The programme manager observed that one of the key constraints to full integration is the lack of integration of regional policies into national policies.
EAC Common Market Protocol was signed in 2010 but the trading block is yet to fully liberalize the free movement of goods, services and labour. EAC member states include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan and Burundi. Read more on the EAC here