EAC kickstarts process of integrating regional capital markets
The EAC Capital Markets Sub-Committee held its first formal meeting since 2019 from September 15 to 17, bringing together CEOs and senior officials from securities exchanges, capital markets regulators and central securities depositories across EAC Partner States.
Nairobi, Kenya - The East African Community (EAC) has commenced the process of merging capital markets among Partner States, a key step towards the establishment of the East African Monetary Union. This was revealed after the EAC Capital Markets Sub-Committee convened its inaugural meeting since 2019, on September 15-17, to assemble representatives from securities exchanges, capital markets regulators, and central securities depositories from EAC Partner States.
The meeting was convened in response to a directive from the 18th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Finance and Economic Affairs to restart the committee's operations. The sub-committee has approved an updated terms of reference, outlining its responsibility for coordinating capital markets integration across the region.
The updated framework emphasizes regulatory harmonization, market development, creation of new financial products, and linking financial market infrastructure across EAC countries. Additionally, the sub-committee agreed to develop regional business requirements to guide the creation of a capital markets connectivity framework. This framework aims to facilitate easier investor transactions across EAC countries.
The meeting also assessed the progress made under previous capital markets integration initiatives in preparation for the East African Monetary Institute.
Dickson Ssembuya, Director of Research and Market Development at Uganda's Capital Markets Authority, expressed optimism about the resumption of the committee's work. He noted that the committee's last meeting was in 2019, and since then, integration efforts have continued but lacked the regular coordination and oversight provided by this committee.
Aime Uwase, EAC Director of Planning, emphasized the importance of stronger coordination among regional institutions as the Community prepares for the East African Monetary Union.
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