Nairobi Going at it Alone

Kenya’s President William Ruto hailed his country’s “remarkable partnership” with the European Union (EU) as the two sides inked a 25-year trade deal, but it has raised questions about East African unity. That’s been a major point of debate all week – and it’s likely to intensify once official reaction from the six other states in the East African Community (EAC) – the regional trading bloc that, some believe, should have been at the heart of the agreement with the bigger and more powerful EU. So far, they have been silent, but the deal – the most comprehensive agreement that Kenya has ever negotiated with the EU, locking in both sides for 25 years – seems to fly in the face of the position of at least the Tanzanian government. It said in a statement last year that it would only support an agreement that benefited the EAC at large – not just Tanzania.

BBC