Kenya accounts for 43pc of EAC's trade with Europe
The volume of trade between the East African Community (EAC) and Europe grew 28.4 percent to $8.86 billion last year, at a time the EAC was re-evaluating its commercial relations with the European bloc and seeking alternative markets.
Some countries have signed free trade agreements (FTA) with third-party countries such as United Arab Emirates (UAE), Pakistan and Indonesia.
Trade statistics from the European Commission (EC) and the EAC Secretariat show that the volume of trade between the two sides rose from $6.9 billion in 2023. Kenya accounted for the bulk (43 percent) of the total trade, attributed to its bilateral trade deal with Europe, which came into force in July 2024.
The EU is the EAC's second-largest export market for coffee, cut flowers, avocados, tobacco, cocoa beans and fish fillets, after the UAE.
EAC's imports from the EU are dominated by machinery, appliances, chemicals, foodstuff and wood products.
The EAC's Economic Partnership Agreement (Epa) with the EU provides for duty-free, quota-free access of EAC goods to the European market.
The other EAC countries were allowed duty-free exports to EU, as they are least developed countries.
The EAC countries at the time, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, had finalised negotiations for the trade agreement with the EU on October 16, 2014. Kenya and Rwanda signed the trade agreement, initially, in September 2016, but only Kenya ratified it, and it could therefore not be applied.
The EAC's heads of state in February 2021 allowed Nairobi to move forward under the principle of variable geometry, which allows members of a bloc to negotiate and accede to a common agreement with another bloc.
This saw Nairobi and Brussels engage to advance a bilateral implementation of the EU-EAC Epa, which was signed on December 18, 2023, in Nairobi and entered into force on July 1, 2024.
A ministerial retreat is planned for September this year to review the draft report.
While the stalemate over the implementation of the Epa persists, EAC member states are working on frameworks to actualise new FTAs with third-party countries.
In May 2025, EAC's Sectoral Council of Ministers of Trade Industry Finance and Investment (SCTIFI) directed the Secretariat to identify key areas of interest for FTA negotiations with prioritised third parties by December 31, 2025, and develop a roadmap to start FTA negotiations with the prioritised third parties by January 30, 2026.
The ministers directed the Secretariat to notify the UAE of the partner states' intention to negotiate a Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (Cepa) as a bloc, and to conduct a cost-benefit analysis by October 30, 2025, to determine whether the EAC should pursue a trade agreement with Indonesia.
According to the report of the May meeting held in Arusha, the EAC is working on a memorandum with Pakistan to establish a Joint Trade Committee (JTC) aimed at expanding and diversifying bilateral trade, enhancing communication, and promoting mutual economic growth, with a long-term goal of establishing an FTA.
The areas of cooperation include removing trade barriers, promoting goods and services, harmonising standards, exchanging trade delegations, participating in exhibitions, improving market access, encouraging investment, protecting intellectual property rights, promoting environmental sustainability, and building capacity.
In January 2025, Kenya signed a Cepa with the UAE.
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