Africa RisingInvestments

A reference shelf, annotated.

Official East African investment publications, each with its publisher, its date and an honest note on what it is still good for. Plus a current reference on the Community as it stands today.

Historical publications

Three official documents, read critically.

All three date from the period when the East African Community had five partner states. Their statistics are historical. Their structure, institutional map and vocabulary are not.

These publications were issued by the East African Community and the African Development Bank. The summaries below identify historical reference publications; Africa Rising Investments makes no claim of authorship.

EAC Investment Guidebook

  • October 2013
  • 109 pages

Published by

East African Community Secretariat with the African Development Bank (Eastern Africa Regional Resource Centre)

Sectors covered

Agriculture and agro-processing, infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism, oil and mining, construction and housing, financial sector, wholesale and retail, privatisation

What it is still good for

The most substantial of the three. Regional economic overview, five country profiles and ten sector chapters, with annexes on rail, corridors and regional institutions. Its statistics belong to 2013 and should be read as historical; its sector structure and its account of how the regional investment framework is organised remain a useful orientation.

EAC Information Guide for Investors

  • First edition, c. 2009
  • 26 pages

Published by

East African Community Secretariat

Sectors covered

Trade, investment framework, agriculture, horticulture, infrastructure, manufacturing, tourism, mining, construction and housing, financial sector, education, health, privatisation

What it is still good for

A short orientation document from the first edition of the Secretariat’s investor guide, carrying a message from then Secretary General Amb. Juma Mwapachu. Most useful today as a record of how the Community presented itself to investors at the start of the Common Market period.

Circa 2009, based on document metadata and internal references.

A Snapshot of Investment Opportunities in East Africa

  • c. 2009–2010
  • 25 pages

Published by

East African Community

Sectors covered

Infrastructure, agriculture and agro-processing, manufacturing, tourism, mining, building and construction, privatisation, financial sector, trade, investment regime

What it is still good for

A concise sector-by-sector survey covering the five partner states of the time, including a summary of investment incentives, export-processing zone regimes and useful institutional contacts. The original is a scanned publication.

The document is undated; the period shown is based on its internal references.

Read our analysis of what these documents still tell an investor

Current reference

The Community today: eight partner states.

The single most common error in material about East Africa is describing a five-member bloc. This is where the Community actually stands, and which national institution an investor deals with in each market.

EAC partner states and national investment promotion institutions. Agency links verified August 2026; institutional names and mandates change, so confirm with the agency before relying on this.
Partner stateAccededNational investment institution
Burundi2007Agence de Promotion des Investissements (API)
Democratic Republic of the Congo2022Agence Nationale pour la Promotion des Investissements (ANAPI)
KenyaFounding partner stateKenya Investment Authority (KenInvest)
Rwanda2007Rwanda Development Board (RDB)
Somalia2024Somalia Investment Promotion Office (SOMINVEST)
South Sudan2016South Sudan Investment Authority (official website to be confirmed)
United Republic of TanzaniaFounding partner stateTanzania Investment Centre (TIC)
UgandaFounding partner stateUganda Investment Authority (UIA)

Integration timeline

How the Community got here.

The sequence matters: what an investor can rely on in any partner state depends on which protocols are in force and which have been implemented in practice.

1999

Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community signed on 30 November; in force 7 July 2000.

2005

EAC Customs Union enters into force.

2007

Rwanda and Burundi accede to the Treaty, taking the Community to five partner states.

2010

Common Market Protocol enters into force.

2013

Monetary Union Protocol signed.

2016

South Sudan admitted as the sixth partner state.

2022

The Democratic Republic of the Congo admitted as the seventh partner state.

2024

Somalia admitted as the eighth partner state.

Need current material rather than historical reference?

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