First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Community Affairs (EAC), Rebecca Kadaga has revealed that the EAC will have a regional currency by 2024 if everything goes according to plan.
The former Speaker revealed this while speaking during the Uganda-DR Congo Business Summit in Kinshasa. She said that member states are now working on the finer details to choose a country to host the East African Monetary Institute, which will later become the East Africa Central Bank.
“By the end of this year, we should be knowing which country is hosting the monetary institute. The institute will be the East African Central Bank. We expect that if we move according to plan, by 2024, we shall have a single currency,” Kadaga said.
Kadaga noted that Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and Kenya have submitted requests to host the institute, and the four countries are being reviewed for a decision.
The EAC now has five member states, including Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, and DR Congo, which formally joined the bloc in April. However, only four, apart from DR Congo, have so far ratified the Single Currency Protocol.
South Sudan remains an observer state because it has not yet harmonized internal laws and still has laws that prevent the free movement of people.
