By TZ Business News Staff.
Tanzania has instructed the Arusha-based East African Community Secretariat to strengthen the private sector in the region, and to shift focus of co-operation away from leaders to citizens.
President of Tanzania, Samia Suluhu Hassan said in Dar es Salaam on Saturday, June 12, 2021 that the private sector in East Africa was key to resolving the problem of unemployment among the youth.
She instructed the newly appointed EAC Secretary General, Dr. Peter Mathuki to actively engage citizens of the region to participate in the various matters happening in the Community, adding that it was especially important to strengthen the private sector because it is key in resolving the problem of youth unemployment.
The President also instructed Dr. Mathuki to properly oversee EAC industrial development, avoiding duplication of industries which might lead to multiplicity of the same industries in the region.
The Secretary General is visiting heads of State in all EAC member nations to introduce himself after his appointment in April of this year 2021, and to take orders for duty at the Secretariat. He visited the Tanzania President at State House in Dar es Salaam for this purpose, a State House statement has said.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan has asked the Secretary General to perform his duties diligently to generate inclusive benefits for the people of East Africa.
The Secretary General agreed effort is needed to strengthen the private sector in the region, agreeing also that this would create an enabling environment for the youth.
Dr. Mathuki also agreed to properly oversee implementation of joint infrastructural projects which connect the six member nations. He also committed to promote the Kiswahili language to make it acceptable at international meetings.
The EAC Secretariat’s website Presents Dr. Mathuki as cut for this job.
Before his appointment to the EAC, Dr. Mathuki was the Executive Director of the East African Business Council (EABC), the regional apex body of Private Sector associations and corporates in the East Africa. He served in that capacity between 2018 and 2021.
In his capacity as the Executive Director of the EABC, Dr. Mathuki was actively involved in the establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and was part of the efforts to establish the African Business Council (AfBC), “an independent private sector institution of the African Union”.
Between June 2012 and June 2017, Dr. Mathuki was a member of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), representing Kenya. While there, he was the chairman of EALA’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Good Governance. He was also a member of the Assembly’s Committee on Trade and Investment.
He has also served as Director in charge of International Labour Standards (ILO) at the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU-Africa) which later became (ITUC-Africa). He also worked for European Union (EU) programs on institutional strengthening for Africa based in several African countries.
He sits on the boards of Kenya Investment Authority, based in Nairobi and the Inter-University Council for East Africa, based in Kampala. He is also a member of the Kenya Institute of Management. Dr. Mathuki holds an MBA and PhD in Strategic Management & Regional Integration from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.
So far, 22 COMESA-EAC-SADC Member/Partner States have signed the TFTA Agreement while 10 Member/Partner States have ratified the Agreement. Article 39(3) of the TFTA Agreement provides for the agreement to enter into force upon ratification by 14 Member/Partner States.
In the EAC, the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have ratified the TFTA Agreement. The United Republic of Tanzania is at advanced stages of the ratification process, while the Republic of South Sudan is yet to sign the Agreement.
His delegation to State House in Dar es Salaam included Mr. Martin Ngonga, Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Honorable Judge Nestory Kayobera, President of the East African Court of Justice, and Engineer Steven Mlote, Deputy EAC Secretary General.
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six (6) Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
