East African Community Regional Integration: Private Investment Implications

The objective of regional integration is the attainment of long-run economic growth for member
countries. Private investments are decisive in attaining this objective, given the high dependence of
EAC member states on state-owned investment. This has been attributed to the economic policies
implemented by the government which favors state-owned investment. Further, existing empirical
studies have been unable to determine whether trade liberalization advances or obstructs the
accumulation of private and foreign investment. This study, assuming a random effect assumption,
attempts to estimate the private investment model in EAC member states using the panel least
squares technique for the period 1981-2015. The panel random effect regression result reveals that
East African Community regional integration has had a significant impact on private investment
build-up owing to the presence of third-country investors not currently established inside the EAC
Original Research Article
Mose et al.; AJEBA, 21(5): 84-89, 2021; Article no.AJEBA.67788
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region. This study, therefore, recommends any policy agenda aimed at deepening regional
integration through guaranteeing an appropriate business environment for enabling free movement
of factors of production, population, and goods and services.