- EAC revives capital markets committee after six-year break
- Regional regulators push for stronger market integration
- Committee links capital markets reforms to monetary union goals
East African Community (EAC) Partner States are set for closer coordination on capital markets after the bloc reactivated a technical committee that had been dormant for six years, positioning the region to accelerate its journey toward a shared monetary union.
Chief executives and senior technical staff from securities exchanges, capital markets and securities regulatory authorities, and central securities depositories across the EAC gathered in Arusha, Tanzania, from September 15 to 17, for the first formal sitting of the Capital Markets Sub-Committee since 2019.
The Sub-Committee operates under the Capital Markets, Insurance and Pensions Committee (CMIPC) and was called back into action following a directive from the 18th Meeting of the Sect-oral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs (SCEFA).
Capital Markets Authority Uganda Director of Research and Market Development Dickson Ssembuya, who chaired the meeting on behalf of the Authority’s Chief Executive Officer, Josephine Okui Ossiya, described the years without formal coordination as a gap that had left integration efforts without the oversight the Committee was designed to provide.
“Today’s meeting represents an important step towards restoring that collaboration and ensuring that all EAC capital markets move forward together,” Ssembuya said.
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EAC Secretariat Director of Planning Aime Uwase, representing the Secretariat, tied the Sub-Committee’s revival directly to the region’s monetary ambitions, noting that the timing coincides with the Community’s push toward the East African Monetary Union.
Building resilient, well-coordinated capital markets, he said, is central to mobilising investment and sustaining economic development region-wide. Partner States were urged to keep working toward capital markets that are efficient, inclusive and resilient enough to support that broader goal.
Delegates left the meeting having endorsed a revised Terms of Reference for the Sub-Committee, widening participation to reflect the EAC’s expanded membership and sharpening its mandate around regulatory harmonisation, market development, product diversification and the interlinking of regional financial market infrastructure.
They also flagged the need for a detailed regional business requirements specification to guide a future capital markets connectivity framework, aimed at making cross-border trading and settlement seamless across the bloc.
The Sub-Committee additionally took stock of work done during the diagnostic phase for setting up the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) and received an update on support lined up for the next stage of that process.
By Benedict Aoya
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