East Africa Economic Developments and Immigration Measures to Consider

The economies of many regions in Sub–Saharan Africa are slowly recovering after the COVID-19 pandemic, with the East African region GDP set to stabilize by the end of 2022. This is, in part, due to authorities across the region working on introducing measures that will attract foreign investment in an effort to ensure a resilient economy.

Economic Developments Across East Africa

In Tanzania, President Samia Suluhu Hassan is championing the introduction of the Tanzania Investment Centre. It is heralded as a one-stop investment centre and saw 235 investments projects recorded in 2021. Tanzania has also ratified the African Continent Free Trade Area Agreement and is expected to benefit from the removal of trade barriers.

In Kenya, the 2022/2023 financial budget has accelerated the implementation of the Third Economic Stimulus program and the “Big 4 Agenda” which address affordable housing, food security, manufacturing and universal healthcare. The Kenyan government is seeking to leverage the Public Private Partnerships Directorate to fund public projects, support the private sector and narrow the fiscal deficit. There are also efforts to ensure macroeconomic stability, such as ensuring inflation remains within the government target range while interest rates remain stable, to support growth in private sector credit. The country is also working to attract investment and talent to develop key ICT projects such as Konza Technology City, dubbed Africa’s “Silicon Savannah.”

Uganda is a leading country in terms of attracting the most Foreign Direct Investment in East Africa. The approval of the USD 3.5bn East African Crude Oil Pipeline project, which will lead to the construction of a 1,400km pipeline from Uganda to the seaport of Tanga in Tanzania, bodes well for investment in both countries.

Rwanda has made enormous strides to improve the socio-economic conditions of its people. It also continues to attract a multitude of investments ranging from information technology to power generation.

Considerations for Bringing Talent to East Africa

Across the region, authorities have made efforts to ensure that the immigration system is modernized. This is intended to ensure that investors save time in mobilizing their critical resources to implement projects in the region.

In Kenya, companies intending to apply for work permits for staff who are nationals from East Africa have been exempt from paying the work permit government fees. This is a testament to the efforts put in place by Kenya to attract talent and investment from the region.

Tanzania has slowly but steadily transformed the immigration sector by streamlining the work permit application process and making it more transparent with shorter turnaround times. This is intended to ensure companies can start their projects in a timely fashion with the talent they need.

In Rwanda, labour market tests have been scrapped as a requirement for long term work permit applications. This is applicable to jobs that were not listed among the critical skill set.

In Uganda, the authorities have made it mandatory for individuals applying for work permits in the oil and gas sector to first acquire approvals from the Petroleum Authority of Uganda. Companies must also conduct labour market testing and, where Ugandans need to make majority of the staff population, present the national content quota. These measures appear restrictive in nature, and it is possible they may be reviewed if the impact is negative on investors.

Conclusion

The efforts to achieve a resilient economy across the region have been met with several challenges. The ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continues to impact the price of oil, gas and other essentials, leading to inflation. Additionally, poor climate conditions such as droughts, along with a shortage of COVID-19 vaccinations, may affect the speed of the economy’s recovery process. Despite these challenges, governments across the East African region are keen on engaging in effective partnerships and creating stable policy frameworks that will promote investment and spur growth.

Need to know more?

For further information, please contact Senior Manager Willys Mac’Olale at [email protected] and Immigration Consultant Gladys Nyambura at [email protected]. This blog was published on 23 September 2022, and due to the circumstances, there are frequent changes. To keep up to date with all the latest updates on global immigration, please visit our dedicated COVID-19 site, subscribe to our alerts and follow us on LinkedIn, twitter, Facebook and Instagram.