Belgian 'regret' for Congo past stirs bittersweet response

Yahoo – AFP, June 30, 2020

King Leopold II pillaged DR Congo and treated the colony as his personal
property (AFP Photo/SAMIR TOUNSI)

Kinshasa (AFP) - DR Congo hailed Belgium on Tuesday after its monarch, King Philippe, voiced his "deepest regrets" for the country's brutal colonial occupation, but some in the country demanded reparations for the past.

In a letter to President Felix Tshisekedi on the nation's 60th anniversary of independence, Philippe expressed unprecedented sorrow for colonial acts that historians say led to the death of millions of Congolese.

"I want to express my deepest regrets for these wounds of the past whose pain is reawakened today by the discrimination still present in our societies," Philippe said.

"Acts of violence and cruelty were committed which weigh on our collective memory," he said.

DR Congo Foreign Minister Marie Ntumba Nzeza, in statement to AFP, said the king's letter was "balm to the heart of the Congolese people. This is a step forward that will boost friendly relations between our nations."

Tshisekedi, in a TV address on the eve of the anniversary, paid tribute to Belgium, where he lived in self-imposed exile before returning to run successfully in the 2018 elections.

Philippe, he said, "is searching, just like me, to strengthen the ties between our two countries, without denying our common past, but with the goal of preparing a bright and harmonious future."

In contrast, Lambert Mende, the former spokesman of Tshisekedi's predecessor, Joseph Kabila, said, "It's not enough to say, 'I feel regret.'

"People should be willing to repair the damage in terms of investment and compensation with interest. That's what we expect from our Belgian partners."

Herve Diakiese, spokesman of a citizen's movement called Congolais Debout (Congolese, Stand Up), said the monarch's letter was "a step in the right direction."

"But this belated remorse can only be accepted after adequate reparations for these atrocities which enabled the personal enrichment of Leopold II and his friends," he said, referring to the former Belgian monarch who pillaged Congo from 1885 to 1908.

"Belgium's mischief-making after independence on June 30 1960 to control the DRC's minerals should also feature among reparation issues," he said.

Looted Congolese artefacts, too, should be returned, he added.

Jean-Claude Katende, the president of Asadho, one of the oldest rights groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called for a greater effort to identify provinces where colonial Belgium carried out its worst atrocities.

"In Equateur (province), people were killed and others had their hands cut off," he said.

Belgium is contemplating setting up a parliamentary commission to investigate its colonial rule, which also extended over Rwanda and Burundi.

Central African countries in talks on boosting anti-Ebola fight

Yahoo – AFP, October 22, 2019

Vaccination is playing a key role in the fight against DR Congo's Ebola epidemic.
Two tested but unlicensed vaccines are being given to frontline health workers
and other people at risk (AFP Photo/Augustin WAMENYA)

Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - Health ministers in 10 central African countries have held talks on boosting data sharing and cross-border surveillance in the fight against Ebola, the Democratic Republic of Congo announced Tuesday.

Health Minister Eteni Longondo and counterparts from the nine countries bordering the DRC met on Monday to swap views on "developing a framework for cross-border collaboration," the health ministry said.

The strategy aims at ensuring "timely sharing of critical information for rapid response and control of the epidemic... (and) strengthening cross-border health surveillance", it said in a statement.

The DRC's latest Ebola epidemic, the 10th in the country's history, has killed 2,171 people since August 2018, according to official figures.

It is the world's deadliest outbreak of the haemorrhagic virus after a pandemic in three West African countries that ran from 2014 to 2016 and claimed more than 11,300 lives.

On Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the DRC epidemic remains a global "public health emergency," a status that ensures a heightened response from among WHO members.

The meeting of health ministers was organised in the eastern city of Goma in partnership with the WHO and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC), a health arm of the African Union.

Representatives from Angola, Burundi, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia attended.

Of the DRC's neighbours, Uganda is the only one to have recorded cases of Ebola on its territory, registering four cases, but thousands of people cross the DRC's borders each day.

Burundi accuses Belgium of ordering hit on independence hero

Yahoo – AFP, 14 October 2018

Burundi independence hero Prince Louis Rwagasore, whose bust is seen here in
Bujumbura, was shot dead a month after being named prime minister in 1961

Burundi on Sunday accused former colonial power Belgium of ordering the assassination of independence hero and Crown Prince Louis Rwagasore in 1961, a move likely to further poison ties between the two countries.

A government statement said Belgium was the "true backer of the assassination of Rwagasore", in the first direct accusation over the murder by Bujumbura, which said it plans to probe the six-decade-old incident.

The statement said that Brussels "has yet to explain itself" over the killing of Rwagasore, who played a key role in Burundi's anti-colonial movement.

Rwagasore was named prime minister in the run-up to independence but was shot dead a month later by a Greek assassin accompanied by three Burundian members of a pro-Belgian party at a hotel in the capital -- a little over a year before independence was achieved in July 1962.

He is one of Burundi's most beloved heroes, with his name gracing stadiums, schools and roads across the country.

In the statement, the government said it "plans to launch a technical commission to investigate the assassinations ... of Rwagasore" and his two young children a few months later.

The Kingdom of Burundi, believed to date to the 17th century, came under German colonial rule in 1890, but was awarded by the League of Nations to Belgium after World War I.

Rwagasore was the eldest son of King Mwambutsa IV.

Burundi has been gripped by political crisis since President Pierre Nkurunziza sought a third term in office in 2015, provoking severe civil unrest that has left at least 1,200 dead and displaced over 400,000 people.

In October 2016, Belgium withdrew its ambassador to Burundi and suspended several development projects, as Bujumbura's relations with foreign allies worsened over the crisis.

The following month, the executive secretary of the ruling CNDD-FDD Evariste Ndayishimiye accused Belgium of "acting as if Burundi is still under its yoke," on Twitter, after accusing it of backing the opposition.

Indonesia, Kenya and Ghana to be removed from Dutch aid list

DutchNews, September 20, 2016

Photo: Dutch foreign ministry 

Indonesia, Kenya and Ghana are to be removed from the list of 15 countries where the Netherlands concentrates its aid efforts in 2020, aid minister Lilianne Ploumen has told parliament. 

Three countries will be added to the list to replace them. They are likely to come from the Sahel region in Africa, which lies between the Sahara to the north and the Sudanese savanna, the minister said in her briefing. 

The government’s policy is to focus on countries closer to Europe’s borders. 

Over the past six years, the number of countries which benefit from Dutch aid efforts has been cut from 33 to 15. 

In seven – Afghanistan, Burundi, Jemen, Mali, Palestine, Rwanda and South Sudan – the focus is on tacking poverty and boosting stability. In the other eight – Bangladesh, Benin, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Indonesia, Mozambique and Uganda – reducing poverty, and boosting jobs and private sector involvement are central. 

Rwanda is to be moved from the category of poorest countries and will get more help with trade and investment, Ploumen said.

US warns Burundi leader against seeking new term

Yahoo – AFP, 15 May 2015

The United States warned Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza against running

 for a third term in office, saying it would "exacerbate" the country's instability (AFP

Photo/Alain Jocard)

Washington (AFP) - The United States on Friday issued Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza a stern warning against running for a third term, saying it would "exacerbate" the country's instability and threaten international aid.

Washington was deeply concerned about the"potential for further violence" after Nkurunziza returned to the country, said Jeff Rathke, a State Department spokesman.

General Godefroid Niyombare, who launched the coup in the central African nation earlier in the week, told AFP by telephone that he wanted to give himself up.

Coup leaders have been arrested and others have been forced on the run by loyalist troops.

The dramatic end to the coup attempt ended 48 hours of uncertainty over who controlled the small, landlocked and impoverished nation, which has been gripped by a political crisis over Nkurunziza's controversial bid to run again for the presidency.

"The US position is that President Nkurunziza... should not stand for a third term," Rathke told reporters.

The president's decision to run "has and will continue to exacerbate instability... in the country," Rathke warned, only a day after he had stressed Washington still regarded Nkurunziza as the legitimate president.

People line the streets as they celebrate the return of the Burundian president

 after a failed coup attempt in the Kamenge quarter of Bujumbura, on May 15, 

2015 (AFP Photo/Jennifer Huxta)

"This threatens the viability of the Burundian government, and it increases the risk of violence and instability that can threaten donor support."

Rathke renewed calls on all sides to exercise restraint, after the State Department late Thursday ordered the families of all US government staff to leave the country.

Amid continuing uncertainty, the US embassy was closed on Friday.

Rathke warned anyone thinking of any revenge attacks that "the world is watching and that they should be held accountable."

Washington could slap visa bans on anyone seen as responsible for such violence.

Related Article:

Burundi crisis triggers regional refugee influx

AU warns Burundi amid renewed clashes, one dead

Police have opened fire on protesters in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, leaving at least one dead and several others injured. The renewed clashes come a day after the president announced he would not seek a fourth term.

Deutsche Welle, 7 May 2015

"The report we got this morning was that, so far, we have got nine people wounded and one person killed," Burundi Red Cross spokesman Alexis Manirakiza told Reuters news agency. He described the victims as civilians.

President Nkurunziza was elected by
 parliament in 2005 and ran uncontested
in 2010

Military personnel fired warning shots into the air to disperse protesters, who were seen chasing down members of the ruling party's Imbonerakure militia. One pro-government militia member narrowly escaped the crowd before the military intervened, AFP news agency reported.

The clashes came a day after President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he would not runfor a fourth term if re-elected in June.

Violent protests were triggered in April when President Pierre Nkurunziza announced he would be running for a third term in office. Burundian authorities shut down independent radio stations and denied access to social media platforms in an alleged bid to quell violence.

Two-term limit?

Critics lambasted the president's decision to run despite the country's constitution limiting the presidency to two terms.

Nkurunziza's supporters say that running for a third term is in line with the constitution since he was elected by lawmakers and not the people in 2005.

However, Burundi's former president, Domitien Ndayizeye, disagreed with Nkurunziza's supporters. He told DW that the two-term limit was set during the Arusha peace deal, which served as a reference point for the country's constitution. The Arusha accords were instrumental in ending civil conflict which lasted more than ten years.

AU warning

The African Union (AU) issued Burundi a warning that its environment is not conducive to elections scheduled for June.

"You can't be going into a country meeting refugees leaving, and saying 'we are going to observe the elections,'" Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, Chairperson of the AU Commission, told Chinese broadcaster CCTV.

"As things stand I don't even see how elections can take place under these conditions."

More than 30,000 Burundians have fled the country to nearby Rwanda and in fear of political violence. At least eight people have been killed since the protests began in April.

ls/kms (AFP, AP, dpa, Reuters)

Kerry warns Burundi leader's third term bid is unconstitutional

Yahoo – AFP, 4 May 2015

Protestors gather in the Musaga neighbourhood of Bujumbura, Burundi,
on May 4, 2015 (AFP Photo/Phil Moore)

Nairobi (AFP) - US Secretary of State John Kerry warned Monday that the bid by Burundi's president to run for a third term in power goes against the constitution, calling for calm after days of protests.

"We are deeply concerned about President Pierre Nkurunziza's decision, which flies directly in the face of the constitution of this country," Kerry told reporters in the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

At least 12 people have been killed in more than a week of demonstrations in Burundi.

The small central African country has been rocked by violent protests since the ruling CNDD-FDD party designated Nkurunziza, a former rebel leader and born-again Christian from the Hutu majority, as its candidate in presidential elections due to be held on June 26.

Nkurunziza has been in power since 2005. His supporters, however, say he is eligible to run again, since his first term in office followed his election by parliament -- not directly by the people as the constitution specifies.

"It is my understanding that an Africa Union delegation will go there soon to meet with him to try to underscore the importance... of the constitution of the country," Kerry added.

"And it is our hope in the United States that ultimately that is what will happen and the people of Burundi will be given the choice that their constitution promises them."

Following a two-day truce over the weekend, hundreds of protesters gathered in a suburb of the capital Bujumbura Monday, shouting at police, who have for days blocked roads in a bid to prevent demonstrators from moving into the centre of the city.

German foreign minister seeking 'anchors of stability' in Africa

Germany's Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier is seeking to intensify ties between Germany and Africa. Berlin is particularly interested in countries that foster regional stability.

Deutsche Welle, 23 Feb 2015

German Foreign Minister Steinmeir with kenyan President

Steinmeier's four-day trip took him to three countries - the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Kenya - and its purpose is to forge new partnerships for Germany.

There were occasional glitches. At the Nairobi museum, the minister was shown the start of a film with sound, but no pictures.

But such mishaps did not stop the high-level cultural and scientific delegation from Germany engaging in a lively debate with Kenya's cultural elite about new forms of cooperation with Africa. Such cooperation is expected to acquire tangible shape at a newly created Humboldt Forum in Berlin starting in 2019.

Cultivating a new relationship with Africa was the main goal of the foreign minister's four-day tour. In spite of the ongoing crises in Ukraine, the Middle East and Greece, Steinmeier went ahead with his Africa tour, the fourth in twelve months, to promote Germany's new Africa policy.

"We have to look at Africa in a new way," Steinmeier said. Germany still tends to view Africa as the continent of crises and conflicts. "But this is no longer true for all of Africa, because there are also anchors of stability in which we are particularly interested," the German minister said.

Rwanda accuses MONUSCO commanders of doing too little in the
fight against the FDLR rebels

'Where is Germany?'

Steinmeier said one anchor of stability in the region was Rwanda, despite deficits in democratic governance and its tense relationship with its neighbor, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

But Rwanda is not satisfied with the work of the UN peacekeeping mission MONUSCO to which Germany contributes more than 100 million euros (US$ 113 million) every year.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo said FDLR Hutu rebels were still active in the border region where they were spreading "ethnic poison." They have to be "eliminated," the Rwandan minister said bluntly. She blamed the head of MONUSCO Martin Kobler - who otherwise enjoys an excellent reputation - for the FDLR's continued presence in the region.

Mushikiwabo wants Germany to take on a far bigger role in the region. Currently only France, the UK and Belgium are active there."Where is Germany?" she asked, "We want more German presence here seen in the region, and across the continent."

Anchors of stability are rare in Central and East Africa. A few days ago, German President Joachim Gauck added Tanzania to the list.

Kenya, the last leg of Steinmeier's tour, is not one of them. The Somali terrorist militia group al-Shabab has repeatedly carried out attacks in the country and the internal political situation is considered fragile. But Steinmeier noted to Kenya's credit that it is the country that is promoting regional cooperation within the framework of the East African Community (EAC).

Steinemeir described Rwanda as an anchor of stability despite
 'deficits in democratic governance'

East Africa - a dependable partner

Steinmeier believes East Africa could develop into a politically strong and economically stable region. A customs union encompassing Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi and Uganda, would create an internal market of at least 160 million consumers. During this trip Steinmeier referred cautiously to "a region of growing political and economic stability."

Some members of the younger generation of East Africans, whether in DR Congo, Rwanda or Kenya, are apparently pinning their hopes on Germany.

In surveys or comments on Facebook, young people say wish German companies could help boost the recovery of their respective national economies. They would also like German politicians to act as act as a counterweight to their often corrupt and patriarchal elites.

"Young people want change," said, Mukazi Ndekezi, a student of international relations from Rwanda. Mukazi, who is a youth ambassador, seeks to promote the interests of young people at the EAC. Not surprisingly, she believes regional cooperation will succeed. Young people between the ages of 17 and 35, she notes, account for two thirds of the population of the EAC region.

"They're really done with conflicts," she said of the under-35s. "And I have seen a positive impact of the regional integration. Like students, they collaborate, they talk, they discuss, and they share their views, their ideas. And then they understand each other."

Germany's foreign minister - who she can only see from afar in Kigali - would have readily welcomed such sentiments.

Thousands rally after Burundi journalist released

Yahoo – AFP, 19 Feb 2015

Burundians gather outside the headquarters of the popular independent African

 Public Radio (RPA) in Bujumbura to welcome the release on bail of its director

 accused of "complicity" in the murder of three Italian nuns, on February 18, 

2015 (AFP Photo/Esdras Ndikumana)

Bujumbura (Burundi) (AFP) - Thousands marched through Burundi's capital Thursday in one of the largest demonstrations in recent years after the release of a popular journalist and government critic from jail, months ahead of key elections.

Vast crowds singing and dancing filled the streets of Bujumbura a day after Bob Rugurika, director of the popular independent African Public Radio (RPA), was released from prison on bail.

There was no official figure for how many took to the streets, but residents said the mass rally of tens of thousands was the largest they could remember.

"I'm 50 and I have never seen such a crowd in the streets," said Fabian, a teacher, saying the only event comparable in size he could remember were celebrations for Burundi's first elected president Melchior Ndadaye in 1993.

The arrest of Rugurika for "complicity" in the murder of three Italian nuns sparked protests by civil rights activists and fellow journalists, who have accused the government of doing all it can to sideline political challengers ahead of elections in May and June, including arrests, harassment and a clampdown on free speech.

The radio is seen as close to the political opposition, and often interviews those who say they are victims of injustice or discrimination.

"I have no words to thank the Burundian population," Rugurika said in radio broadcast, after entering the capital followed by supporters crammed into dozens of cars and hundreds on motorbikes.

"Thanks to your support, your commitment... I'm free at last."

'Fed-up' with government

The interior ministry had initially banned demonstrations but the huge crowds took police by surprise, and they pulled back to leave marchers to continue peacefully.

Burundians gather outside the headquarters of the popular independent African

 Public Radio (RPA) in Bujumbura to welcome the release on bail of its director

 director accused of "complicity" in the murder of three Italian nuns on

February 18, 2015 (AFP Photo/Esdras Ndikumana)

Thierry Vircoulon of the International Crisis Group (ICG) said the demonstration showed that people in the capital were "fed up with those in power and their methods."

Rugurika was arrested on January 21 after broadcasting the purported confession of a man claiming he was one of the killers.

A court on Wednesday granted him bail of 15 million Burundi francs ($9,500, 8,400 euros), but his lawyer Lambert Nigarura said there was a need for a proper investigation into the "real murderers of the three nuns."

For broadcasting the alleged confession, Rugurika was charged with complicity in the murders, "breach of public solidarity" and disclosing confidential information regarding a case.

The supposed confession contradicted a police account of the crime and implicated the security services.

He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

Burundi, a small landlocked nation in central Africa's Great Lakes region, emerged in 2006 from a brutal 13-year civil war. The political climate remains fractious ahead of local, parliamentary and presidential polls beginning in May.

The three Roman Catholic nuns, aged between 75 and 83, were murdered at a convent north of Bujumbura in September.

Rights groups have warned of growing fears of the risk of violence ahead of elections, with a string of attacks including a five-day battle last month between the army and rebels.

President Pierre Nkurunziza, in power since 2005, is expected to run for a third term in office despite opponents' claims that a new mandate would violate Burundi's constitution.

60 dead in Burundi flood disaster

Google – AFP, Esdras Ndikumana (AFP), 10 February 2014

People look at destruction caused by heavy landslides on February 10, 2014

in Bujumbura (AFP, Esdras Ndikumana)

Bujumbura — At least 60 people perished in flooding and landslides in a night of torrential rain in the Burundi capital that swept away hundreds of homes and cut off roads and power, officials said Monday.

Police in Bujumbura said the toll was the highest in living memory from a disaster caused by freak weather, with scores of people injured.

"The rain that fell in torrents overnight on the capital caused a disaster," Security Minister Gabriel Nizigama told reporters.

"So far we have registered 60 people killed, 81 wounded and more than 400 houses destroyed," said Alexis Manirakiza, a spokesman for the Burundi Red Cross, adding that most of the victims were children.

People stand next to a road after a heavy

 landslide that destroyed houses on

February 10, 2014 in Bujumbura (AFP,

Esdras Ndikumana)

He said three other provinces close to the capital -- Cibitoke, Bubanza and Bujumbura Rural -- had also been affected by torrential rain and said the nationwide toll could yet rise further.

Torrential rains began battering the city late Sunday and houses in the poorer parts of town are often built from mud bricks, which offer no resistance to torrents of water and mud.

"It's the first time in the history of Bujumbura that we have seen damage on this scale," Bujumbura mayor Saidi Juma said, calling for "solidarity on a national and international scale" to help the city cope.

In the district of Kinama in the hardest hit north of the city, a stream broke its banks, with waters rising to shoulder level in some places.

By midday the flooding had subsided, leaving scenes of devastation.

Zawadi, a mother-of-five, stood in the ruins of her Kinama home, feeding her five-month-old baby surrounded by jerry cans and muddy clothing.

"I heard the children shouting during the night," she said, recounting how she had gone into their room to find them standing up on their bed, which was already under water.

The whole family was able to run outside before the walls caved in, but one neighbouring family was less fortunate, with the parents and their three children crushed to death.

On the western outskirts of Bujumbura, residents told similar stories.

"Around midnight we heard something cracking and we all ran outside for fear the house would fall on us," said Gaudence Nyandwi, whose father Venant was being transferred from an improvised stretcher to a car, his face contorted in pain.

'No space for bodies'

"My father went back inside to see if he could save anything and the house fell on him. We think he might have a broken leg," Nyandwi told AFP.

The bodies of people who perished in

flooding and landslides in Bujumbura are

laid on the ground before being transported

to morgues (AFP, Esdras Ndikumana)

Burials of the victims began Monday.

Nizigama said this was because there was not enough space for their bodies in the capital's mortuaries.

He was speaking at a police station in the worst affected northern part of Bujumbura, where an AFP journalist saw 27 bodies covered in white sheeting.

Nizigama, touring the disaster zone with other ministers, promised food aid to those who lost their homes and said the government would bear the cost of burying relatives and would provide new housing.

Torrential rain fell solidly for 10 hours overnight, causing power cuts in whole areas of the city which lies on the northeastern shore of Lake Tanganyika.

The road leading out of the capital to neighbouring Rwanda was blocked because of a landslide while a bridge was washed away on the road to the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An EU in East Africa?

Deutsche Welle, 12 January 2014

Passport-free travel, a common market, and a single currency. Sound like the EU? It's Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, and they're being warned to take things slowly.

Traveling without a passport or visa, which is a right within the European Union, may soon be possible for around 135 million people in East Africa. Since January 1, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have allowed their citizens to travel freely across the three countries. At border control stations, an identity card, whether for work, school or voting, is all that's required. Travelers no longer suffer high visa costs and nerve-wracking administrative processes.

That's because Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are members of the East African Community (EAC). Their goal: more inter-African trade through a common market with unified immigration and custom laws. “We must deepen trade amongst each other," said Kenya's President Uhuru Kenyatta, current EAC chair. "This way our private sectors will develop the strength, resilience and stature needed to take on the world."

Safety concerns

A September 2013 terror attack in Nairobi,
Kenya added to fears of terrorism

Burundi and Tanzania also belong to the EAC. At this point, both countries have kept their borders closed due to fears of terrorist attacks by members of the Somali al-Shabaab militia. Tanzania is the only country bordering all four EAC countries, says Samuel Sitta, Tanzania's minister for East African Cooperation.

Sitta criticizes that technical requirements for free travel have not yet been mastered: As before, border control machines cannot read all passports. "Fragilearrangements are a security threat," he said. "Our region has no peace, and as we speak, there is war in South Sudan."

Tanzanian security forces believe members and sympathizers of al-Shabaab would be able to obtain identity cards and travel within EAC countries. Some are even thought to be current EAC citizens. With new freedom to travel comes an increased risk of attacks and assassinations.

Boom times?

Security concerns are also rife in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. There, however, the fears are trumped by potential trade benefits. Freedom of movement for workers, goods, services and capital have awoken hope for more investments in the region: streets, rail lines and power grids.

"The infrastructure has been a challenge obviously," economist Martin Otieno told DW from Nairobi. "But what we've seen in recent years is that governments have renewed their commitment to making the free movement of goods, people, commerce, trade and investment much easier." Otieno added that it's the private sector which is the chief driver of regional integration and which is now pressing governments to hold to their promises.

The five states of the EAC are now working on their next large-scale project: They want to establish a currency union like the eurozone, with the hope that it would strengthen the economies and make East Africa more attractive to foreign investors. Governments signed a framework agreement in December 2013 in Uganda's capital, Kampala, with the currency zone to be implemented within ten years.

Don't rush it

However, each country must meet specific criteria, such as inflation targets. Countries will have to establish independent institutions to manage the currency. A look toward Europe is helpful - but only to an extent.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde meets with
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta

On a trip to Kenya in January, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Christine Lagarde, advised countries to look at Europe's experience - but to "hasten slowly" and "not rush."

"Make sure you learn from our mistakes," she said, adding that East Africans can even teach Europeans how to do things correctly.

Stumbling blocks on the road to integration, the IMF chief said, include non-tariff trade barriers such as import quotas or export restrictions. But differences in member economies can also pose a problem. The extent of the strain a currency zone can be forced to endure is something Europe learned only recently during its - still lingering - debt crisis.

Related Articles:

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A Latin American Euro? The Region’s First Steps Towards A Unique Currency -- What IsThe Sucre?

ASEAN has good single currency prospect


"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) - (Text version)

“…. Human Nature is Changing

There's a new concept afoot, a change in Human nature. We've spoken about this before. How many of you studied European history? And in school, did your mind fill up with all of the dates you had to memorize? Who conquered whom and when? Over and over and over, every single country had their turn conquering another country. Borders moved constantly. As far back as you want to go, that's what Humans did. They separated, gathered, and conquered. But as little as 50 years ago, it all stopped.

We've said this before. Fifty years ago, a seed, an idea, was planted at the end of World War II. "Let's put these European countries together," they said. "Let's even drop the borders and eventually give them one currency." Do this and they'll never war again, they predicted, for countries with common economic sources don't go to war! And that's exactly what's happened. Did it work? It's fairly fresh, but their money is threatening to take over the strength of your money, did you notice? It's worth more than yours. They still struggle to make it work and balance it. But then again, you do the same in the United States, always fine tuning the unity.

South America is considering the same thing right now. The seeds are being planted in Brazil. Within a generation, they would love to see the borders dropped and one currency. Can they do it? Perhaps. Perhaps it will take longer. Why do it? Because they see the European Union with the strongest currency on Earth. We've said this before. Here is a prediction: Perhaps not in your time, but there'll come a day when there are only five currencies in the world, because continents will start understanding that unification creates peace and prosperity. Separation creates chaos. What a concept.  …”

Africa - "The End of History"- Nov 20, 2010 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll)

"..  Let me tell you where else it's happening that you are unaware - that which is the beginning of the unity of the African states. Soon the continent will have what they never had before, and when that continent is healed and there is no AIDS and no major disease, they're going to want what you have. They're going to want houses and schools and an economy that works without corruption. They will be done with small-minded leaders who kill their populations for power in what has been called for generations "The History of Africa." Soon it will be the end of history in Africa, and a new continent will emerge.

Be aware that the strength may not come from the expected areas, for new leadership is brewing. There is so much land there and the population is so ready there, it will be one of the strongest economies on the planet within two generations plus 20 years. And it's going to happen because of a unifying idea put together by a few. These are the potentials of the planet, and the end of history as you know it.

In approximately 70 years, there will be a black man who leads this African continent into affluence and peace. He won't be a president, but rather a planner and a revolutionary economic thinker. He, and a strong woman with him, will implement the plan continent-wide. They will unite. This is the potential and this is the plan. Africa will arise out the ashes of centuries of disease and despair and create a viable economic force with workers who can create good products for the day. You think China is economically strong? China must do what it does, hobbled by the secrecy and bias of the old ways of its own history. As large as it is, it will have to eventually compete with Africa, a land of free thinkers and fast change. China will have a major competitor, one that doesn't have any cultural barriers to the advancement of the free Human spirit. …."