In keeping with tradition, the three East African Finance Ministers delivered their budget speeches on 14 June 2007, articulating changes expected to take effect later on this year. Notably, while the budget speech by the Tanzanian and Ugandan Finance Ministers stuck to tradition, Kenya’s was once again a deviation from the norm; the Kenya Finance minister chose a thematic approach focusing on sectoral priorities.

Economically, the region appears to be riding a crest, with the three countries registering a GDP growth of above 6%, largely propelled by the hotels and restaurants, construction and transport sectors.

Going forward, the deliberate shift of focus towards development expenditure as well as strengthening and reforms of the financial sectors will no doubt result into stronger economies for the three East Africa Countries.