Reform and Regional Integration of Professional Services in East Africa : Time for Action
Policy makers across East Africa realize that weak professional services are impeding growth in their countries. Recent studies have revealed a strong relationship between African firms' access to services and their productivity. The East Afri...
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| Format: | Other Poverty Study |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank
2012
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| Online Access: | http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/main?menuPK=64187510&pagePK=64193027&piPK=64187937&theSitePK=523679&menuPK=64187510&searchMenuPK=64187283&siteName=WDS&entityID=000333037_20101212235509 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/2957 |
| Summary: | Policy makers across East Africa realize
that weak professional services are impeding growth in their
countries. Recent studies have revealed a strong
relationship between African firms' access to services
and their productivity. The East African governments have
now committed themselves to reforming their professional
services along with other backbone services like
telecommunications, banking and transport. This will include
creating a more integrated regional market, and, to initiate
this push, in 2009 the five East African heads of state -
Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, adopted the
common market protocol to begin the integration process in
professional and other services. The East African
governments have asked the World Bank for assistance in
fixing the large gaps in information on policies and market
conditions in professional services, especially accounting,
engineering, and legal services. This report is a first step
towards that aim. It will serve as a background document for
meetings and workshops at the country and regional level,
where regulators, professional associations, business
representatives, negotiators and other stakeholders will
confirm and deepen the information, then plan concrete steps
for reform and regional integration. |
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