Sending money across East Africa or selling goods online to a neighbour should soon cost less and take less time after regional leaders meeting in Arusha this week moved to put money and projects behind long-awaited digital trade rules.
The East African Community is pushing to tear down digital borders, convening the 2026 Digital for Development Forum in Arusha to turn years of strategy papers into actual cables, code, and payment rails for 330 million people.
The high-level Forum opened Tuesday at the EAC headquarters, bringing together central bank governors, MPs, regulators, tech entrepreneurs and donors under the theme ‘From Strategy to Implementation: Building the Digital Single Market.’