Business leaders are calling for faster action on non-tariff barriers, border delays and payment systems as East Africa seeks to unlock more regional trade.
Businesses across East Africa are renewing calls for governments to remove non-tariff barriers, harmonize standards and improve border systems as the region seeks to unlock more trade within the East African Community (EAC).
The East African Business Council (EABC) said at a CEOs–Trade and Investment Roundtable in Nairobi that intra-EAC trade stands at about $19.7 billion, against a regional economy valued at around $400 billion. Ahmed Farah, the council’s executive director, described the bloc as “Kenya’s next growth frontier”, adding: “Our priority must be to make the EAC a more competitive and predictable market for business.”
A Large Market, Limited Integration
Despite the scale of the EAC market, regional trade remains relatively limited. At present, intra-regional trade represents around 15% of the bloc’s total trade, even after growing by 28% in 2025, while an estimated 30–50% of the region’s trade potential remains unrealized.
The barriers cited by businesses extend beyond formal tariffs. They include border delays, non-harmonized standards, differing regulatory requirements, high transport and electricity costs, fragmented digital systems and difficulties making cross-border payments.
Businesses Push for Practical Reform
Citizen Digital reported that business leaders want greater emphasis placed on implementing agreements that already exist rather than creating further policy commitments. Trade Catalyst Africa CEO Duncan Onyango said one of the priorities was to “fix the trade corridors”, alongside financing SMEs and strengthening the systems supporting trade and investment.
For companies moving goods across borders, these frictions can directly affect whether an order remains commercially viable. Delays increase logistics costs, while incompatible payment and regulatory systems create additional risks for companies attempting to operate across several EAC markets.
Payments Add Another Trade Barrier
Cross-border payments were noted as another constraint. Businesses operating across different currencies and financial systems can face conversion costs, foreign-exchange constraints and payment-system incompatibilities, adding another layer of expense to regional trade.
Onyango argued that East Africa’s integration challenge therefore extends beyond infrastructure and customs. Greater financial interoperability and more reliable systems for cross-border payments will also be important if businesses are to treat the EAC as a single commercial market.
Regional Value Chains
Deeper integration could also help EAC countries build stronger regional value chains, with member states sourcing inputs across borders and concentrating production where it can operate most efficiently. Kenya Investment Authority CEO John Mwendwa urged EAC states to complement rather than compete with one another in developing regional production networks.
Mwendwa said: “Investors are primarily seeking scale, predictability, talent, market access and opportunities to participate in regional value chains.”
Such an approach could allow businesses to use the wider EAC as a production base while strengthening cross-border supply chains and access to African and international markets.
From Agreements to Implementation
The private sector is calling for faster resolution of non-tariff barriers, simpler border procedures, harmonized regulations and professional standards, improved transport infrastructure and greater interoperability between regional payment systems.
The wider objective is to convert East Africa’s economic scale into regional value chains that allow companies to source inputs, manufacture products and sell services across borders more efficiently.
With eight EAC partner states and more than 360 million people, the commercial opportunity is substantial. The challenge is increasingly less about establishing new trade frameworks than ensuring existing commitments work consistently for the businesses trying to use them.
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