On 15 May, the EAC Secretary General, Amb. Stephen Mbundi, received high-performance ICT infrastructure worth EUR 205,000 (approximately USD 230,000) from GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), procured under the Digitalisation for East African Trade and Integration (DIGEAT) Project.
The infrastructure is set to enhance the EAC’s capacity to host, secure and scale the platform, improving reliability, cybersecurity, data backup and system continuity, while supporting Africa’s first digital mechanism for mutual recognition of professional engineers.
The equipment was handed over to the Secretary General by Mr. Björn Richter, GIZ- EAC Cluster Coordinator, accompanied by Ms. Estella Aryada, the DIGEAT Programme Manager.
The EUR 205,000 infrastructure package comprises high-performance primary and disaster recovery servers, a Storage Area Network (SAN) system with enterprise-grade fibre channel connectivity, two backup appliances for automated data protection and rapid recovery, enterprise network switches, a Web Application Firewall (WAF) appliance with advanced cybersecurity services, and Windows Server Datacentre licences.
The infrastructure will enable the EAC Secretariat to independently host, secure, maintain, and scale the EAC Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) Digital Platform, a mechanism for mutual recognition of professional engineers in Africa.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, the Secretary General described the event as a milestone in the Community’s digital integration journey. “This handover represents more than a transfer of equipment. It is a transfer of ownership and capability. With this investment of EUR 205,000 in server infrastructure, the EAC Secretariat is now positioned as a custodian of regional digital public infrastructure, capable of facilitating secure cross-border digital services for East African professionals,” said Amb. Mbundi.
The Secretary General added that the EAC Secretariat was committed to sustaining and scaling the platform, beginning with engineers and extending to other professions including accountancy, architecture, and veterinary science. He thanked the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany for their continued support to the Community and its regional integration agenda.
On his part, Mr. Richter highlighted the strategic significance of the investment.
“Following the agreements from the German-EAC Intergovernmental Negotiations 2024, GIZ procured this high-performance server infrastructure to support the EAC Secretariat in its efforts of enhancing professional mobility across the region. This investment is part of our shared agenda to further meaningful impacts for East Africans,” said Mr. Richter.
Implemented jointly by the EAC Secretariat and GIZ, DIGEAT project pilots the operationalisation of the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA) for Engineers within the framework of the EAC Common Market Protocol across all eight EAC Partner States, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Through the project duration, DIGEAT has delivered a fully operational EAC MRA Digital Platform, accessible at mraportal.eac.int, which enables engineers to register, authenticate their credentials, and apply for recognition online across signatory Partner States.
These efforts position the EAC as one of the most advanced Regional Economic Communities in supporting MRAs. The bloc has concluded agreements in accountancy, architecture, engineering, and veterinary services, while negotiations for advocates MRA are at an advanced stage.