COOPERATION BETWEEN EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC) AND AFRICA BATTERY INITIATIVE (ABI) A. EAC
Introduction
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of 7 Partner States: The Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC is one of the fastest growing regional economic blocks in the world, its also a sole regional on our plante which is endowed with abudance of Critical Minerals including Lithium, Cobalt, Nickel, Graphate, Copper, Manganese and Rare Earth.
The Africa Battery Initiative
The Africa Battery Initiative was established in the year 2022 by the African diaspora from Tanzania, the DRC, Burundi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, living in Germany, Norway, the UK, Belgium, China and the GCC member countries.
One of the objectives of ABI is to ensure that all critical raw materials and rare earths needed for EV-battery manufacturing, semiconductor production, etc. are first and foremost value-added in Africa before being exported to Europe, the USA, China, etc. This is to guarantee job creation and to meet the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including poverty alleviation.
It is a great honour and privilege for the Africa Battery Initiative (ABI) to join hands with the East African Community (EAC) in highlighting the region’s importance in both the global energy transition and the global decarbonisation endeavours towards Net-Zero Mobility.
It is with this background that the EAC and ABI agreed to work together in preparing and implementing the 1st Africa Battery Minerals Summit in Zanzibar, Tanzania.
The Summit underscored the serious determination of the East African leadership to attract global investors into the whole supply chain of critical minerals in the region, and hence to contribute sustainably to the economic growth of the regional bloc.