The meeting took place on June 26, 2026, according to the Office of the President of Rwanda.
Discussions focused on ongoing efforts to advance the East African Political Confederation, including progress in drafting the proposed constitution for the regional confederation and strategies to accelerate political integration among EAC member states.
The East African Political Confederation is a long-term initiative designed to strengthen cooperation among EAC countries through shared institutions responsible for key areas such as security, foreign affairs, trade, governance, and other strategic sectors.
The proposal does not envision replacing individual member states with a single country. Instead, each nation would retain its own president, constitution, government, and sovereignty while delegating agreed areas of responsibility to common regional institutions.
The initiative involves all eight EAC member states: Rwanda, Burundi, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Somalia.
The Political Confederation roadmap was endorsed in 2017 as part of the EAC’s long-term vision to promote regional self-reliance and deeper integration. Although the objective has yet to be realized, work on the initiative continues.
Despite progress in harmonizing legal frameworks to facilitate joint regional projects, significant challenges remain. In particular, intra-EAC trade has continued to underperform.
According to EAC figures, trade among member states has remained at around 15% over the past decade, well below the 30% to 50% target envisioned for the regional bloc. Intra-EAC exports account for only about one-eighth of the Community’s total exports. Regional trade increased only modestly, from 11.5% in 2016 to 12.2% in 2024, highlighting the bloc’s continued reliance on markets outside the region.
The meeting followed another engagement on June 17, 2026, when President Kagame hosted Stephen Patrick Mbundi to discuss Rwanda’s cooperation with the East African Community, which the country has been a member of for 19 years.
