RWANDA – President Kagame pushes for ‘Borderless’ East Africa Region, reports KT Press

KIGALI – Rwanda’s president Paul Kagame says individual countries cannot develop with closed borders – urging the East African region to overcome the colonial mindset to be able to increase trade.
Kagame was speaking at the annual East Africa Business Summit, attended by business executives and governments from Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi.
Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta,the Chairperson of East African community (EAC), attended the summit.
Kagame said Rwanda and Kenya are benefiting from the single tourist visa, national ID for travel between the two countries and the work permits fees waiver.
“When Rwanda and Kenya opened up, people from both sides benefited. If Rwanda cannot fear opening up to Kenya, why should other member states fear,” Kagame said.
Rwanda has granted work permits to 9,000 Kenyans. “In my office, I have had Kenyans, Tanzanians and even gone beyond to hire the British,” Kagame said.
“It’s what people do that matters. We needed to fill gaps on skills,”Kagame said.
When landlocked Rwanda and Burundi in 2007 joined EAC, the population of the bloc grew to 153.12 Million.
Rwanda accounts for over two thirds of EAC’s intra-regional exports of coffee, tea and cocoa and nearly all its mineral exports, reflecting the country’s use of its EAC neighbours as corridors for exporting its goods to global markets.
The country’s exports to EAC in first half of 2014 amounted to $97.8M while imports from the regional bloc are estimated at $247.8M.
Rwanda mainly exports tea, raw hides and skins of bovine, coffee, steel and iron rods, vegetables and malt beer. Major imports include; cement palm oil, fats and oils, fertilizers, second hand clothing and sugar.
Rwanda has maintained a steady growth of 7.4% while Kenya whose population is 41.8 million has a projected growth rate of 6.5 % for 2014.
Kenyatta urged regional bloc to embrace manufacturing to boost economic growth and employment, “We are economies focused on export of raw materials and labour.”
President Kagame added, “The more we pool our resources together the more we integrate.”
East Africa, is a leading exporter of cash crops and minerals, accounting for 42% of Africa’s coffee exports, 17% of its sugar exports and 9% of its cotton exports, supplying markets in Europe, the Americas and Asia.