{{On November28 the new headquarters of the East African Community (EAC) will be inaugurated in Arusha, Tanzania.}}
The construction cost nearly Euros15 million funded by Germany in the context of its development cooperation with the EAC.
Federal Development Minister Dirk Niebel has said,”It is one of our main development policy goals to strengthen regional economic groupings such as the EAC.”
He added that This new building, is intended to do precisely assist the EAC in advancing its agenda for economic and political integration.
“I hope the staff of the EAC Secretariat will now make it a hive of activity and enable the East African Community to be even more effective as a driver of integration in the region.”
Federal Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle noted,”Regional stability in Africa is something that’s in our own interest, too. To build it you need viable regional organizations. That’s why we support the East African Community.”
He said, “The help we’ve given for EAC’s new headquarters is a hands-on contribution to the successful work the EAC is doing.”
The inauguration ceremony will be attended by the Presidents of the five EAC partner states.
German Government will be represented by Egon Kochanke and Ursula Mikota, the Regional Directors for Sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel at the Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The new building will for the first time allow the EAC’s principal organs – the East African Secretariat, Legislative Assembly and Court of Justice – to be housed under one roof.
The funding for the new EAC headquarters (14.8 million euros) came from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development budget and was channelled via Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau – Reconstruction Loan Corporation (KfW).
The inauguration will also coincide with the signing of technical and financial cooperation agreements between Germany and the EAC.
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