Rwanda, Kenya, Burundi, Tanzania, Uganda To Adopt One Currency In 10 years

[Dr_Osman]

East African countries agree to adopt common currency within 10 years

 

Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have agreed to set up a monetary union modeled after the eurozone.

 

Thousands of wildebeest wind through the Masai Mara National Reserve in Kenya, Aug. 3, 2002. More than a million wildebeest annually cross the border between Tanzania and Kenya. (Pedro Ugarte/Getty Images) (Pedro Ugarte/Getty Images)

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Five east African countries have taken the first steps towards establishing a common currency.

 

At a meeting in Kampala, Uganda, the presidents of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda said they would adopt a single currency within the next 10 years. The five countries are part of the East African Community (EAC) regional economic bloc, formed in 2000.

 

On Saturday, the countries agreed to set up a monetary union modeled after the eurozone and open a single customs union by 2014.

 

More from GlobalPost: East Africans step up plans for their own “euro”

 

The single currency is designed to attract investors by reducing transaction costs associated with changing money.

 

"In a monetary union, the absence of currency risk provides a greater incentive to trade," Kenneth Kitariko, chief executive officer at African Alliance Uganda, an investment advisory firm, told Reuters.

 

“The promise of economic development and prosperity hinges on our integration," Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the new chairman of the EAC, said. "Businesses will find more freedom to trade and invest more widely, and foreign investors will find additional, irresistible reasons to pitch tent in our region.”

 

It took the European Union seven years to introduce the euro after it announced it would adopt a single currency.

 

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/kenya/131130/east-african-countries-agree-adopt-common-currency-within-

[guleed_ali]

I saw this on another site Dr. Oz.. Conventional economics are always trying to find ways to mitigate risk in the economy. This type of aggressive activity usually ends up back firing. Just look at the U.S and euro zone. Africans have always traded with various currencies and done well. People should stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just shut up and trade. Financial engineering is the worst thing that happened to the free market.

[DoctorKenney]

I don't see this ending well. If several nations share the same monetary policy but don't share the same fiscal policy, it will definitely backfire.

 

We've seen what happened in Europe. There's no use in repeating that experiment

[Haatu]

guleed_ali;989164 wrote:

I saw this on another site Dr. Oz.. Conventional economics are always trying to find ways to mitigate risk in the economy. This type of aggressive activity usually ends up back firing. Just look at the U.S and euro zone. Africans have always traded with various currencies and done well. People should stop trying to reinvent the wheel and just shut up and trade. Financial engineering is the worst thing that happened to the free market.

You and Dr Kenny have put this very well. These people seem to have learnt nothing from the Euro Crisis.