East African govts urged to fast-track implementation of region’s single currency

The East African countries have not done enough to make sufficient progress in delivering on the pending actions outlined in the East African Monetary Union roadmap for a region’s single currency, according to the East African Budget Network (EABN).

Therefore, East African Community (EAC) governments have been urged to fast-track the implementation of a single East African currency to facilitate trade and economic integration.

These concerns have been voiced during the East African Monetary Union Civil Society Summit that was recently held in Uganda’s capital Kampala. “We find that countries are still lagging behind,” Julius Mukunda, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Budget Advocacy Group (CSBAG), said. “All the targets we were supposed to have by 2024 have now been pushed to 2031. We believe the way we do work, we might not even achieve that.”

The initial plan to have a single East African currency in 2024 faced a setback in 2019 after the EAC Council of Ministers, the grouping’s central decision-making and governing organ, resolved the deadline was not attainable. It decided to extend the timeline for implementing a single currency to 2031 with the goal of eliminating transaction costs associated with currency exchange and reducing volatility in cross-border trade.

In the run-up to achieving a single currency, the EAC partner states aimed at harmonize monetary and fiscal policies; harmonize financial, payment and settlement systems; harmonize financial accounting and reporting practices; harmonies policies and establish an East African Central Bank.