The East African Community (EAC) continues to enhance strategic partnerships to strengthen its capacity to drive sustainable development and address regional challenges. In this regard, the EAC and Germany’s KfW Development Bank have signed four agreements worth €46 million to advance key regional infrastructure, improve healthcare systems, foster regional cooperation, and mitigate the effects of climate change.
This collaboration also aims to expand transport routes for improved connectivity and increase educational opportunities across the region.
In partnership with the European Union, KfW is supporting the EAC’s Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) in promoting the sustainable and coordinated use of the lake’s resources. The comprehensive management of the Lake Victoria catchment area will ensure greater availability of high-quality water. Significant investments are also being made in wastewater treatment infrastructure, which will have a positive impact on the overall water quality of the lake.
Two contracts, amounting to €30 million, have been signed for the ‘Lake Victoria Basin Integrated Water Resource Management Programme’. These investments focus on expanding sewerage systems in Kampala (Uganda) and Mwanza (Tanzania) and constructing sanitary facilities and a sewerage system in Kisumu (Kenya), particularly in informal settlements.
In the health sector, KfW is also supporting the EAC’s efforts to combat infectious diseases. Through a collaboration with the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, the laboratory network across seven EAC countries is being expanded, with additional training provided to laboratory personnel.
This initiative, funded with €12 million, aims to enhance rapid diagnostics during disease outbreaks, including responses to Ebola, dengue, COVID-19, and, more recently, the Marburg virus and Mpox.
The ‘EAC Regional Laboratory Network’ project, now in its third phase, focuses on improving diagnostic capacities, including genomic surveillance, at both national and regional levels. Notably, the Uganda Virus Research Institute (UVRI) is being established as a regional centre of excellence for the EAC, fostering greater collaboration between the human and veterinary health sectors under the One Health Approach.
The EAC scholarship programme, similar to the European Erasmus programme, has been designed to support talented master’s students from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds pursuing studies in STEM subjects or economics.
This initiative helps broaden students’ horizons and promotes greater social integration across EAC countries. In its first phase, 180 students from eleven universities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Rwanda benefitted from the programme. The second phase, with an additional €4 million in funding, will extend opportunities to students from Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, further enhancing regional mobility and academic collaboration.
