This archive report was first published on 24 June 2021.
On June 24, 2021, the European Union announced plans to sign an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with Kenya, leaving out the rest of East African countries that have yet to ratify the trade deal.
According to Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Union's executive vice-president and trade commissioner, the EU will first sign the agreement with Kenya as other EAC countries wait for ratification.
The EPA agreement was concluded seven years ago but had not come into effect due to lack of signatures from other EAC countries. Kenya has already signed the regional EPA and ratified it.
The agreement was concluded in 2016, with Kenya and Rwanda being the only two countries in the region to sign the EPA at the time. Tanzania, Uganda, and Burundi refused to endorse it, forcing Nairobi to have a temporary arrangement with the Europeans to allow its goods duty-free access to the vast market.
