The widening versus deepening dilemma in regional integration: an analysis of the East African Community’s expansion from five to eight members (2016-2024)
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2026-05-25
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Uganda Christian University
Abstract
Regional integration has been a long-admired strategy for promoting neighborhood states 'economic growth, political stability and social cohesion. The EAC was initially formed from five countries: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi but was later expanded to incorporate South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. The aim of this study was to examine the dilemma of widening versus deepening in regional integration in light of the expansion of the East African Community from the original five to eight member countries (2016-2024). This study used a qualitative descriptive case study design that is further supplemented by process tracing. The data used in the study was secondary data that analyzed thematically. The study revealed that the intra-EAC share of trade reduced from 20 percent in 2016 to 15 per cent in 2023, the rate of harmonization legal instruments dropped from
four to two per year, and the Monetary Union protocol had seven missed deadlines. Through document analysis it was found that there was a significant difference in the perspectives of political leaders and technical stakeholders. EAC technocrats, private sector and civil society, continuously voiced their doubts and non-compliance on a lack of institutional capacity to scale up. The study found that the number of EAC Court cases rose by almost 4 times,
adherence to Court decisions dropped to 54%, and newer members were imposing disproportionate non-tariff barriers and budget arrears grew by $47 million.
Description
Undergraduate