Impacts of Land-Based Investments in the East African Community

The Case for Gender Responsible Investment Policies for the East Africa Community.

Women, despite constituting over 60 percent of the East African Community (EAC) population are still marginalised especially in the sectors of investment . Generally, the current attitudes and approaches in the economic development process and specifically, the existing investment related policies, laws and agreements have served to marginalize women and undermine the agenda of gender equity within the EAC region. While measures have been taken by Partner States to address the imbalances meted out on the female gender throughout human history, more work still needs to be done on enhancing more gender responsive investment policies and laws in order to fundamentally contribute towards the socio-economic transformation of the region.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows into the East African region have been increasing cumulatively over the past years, majorly from the land-based investments as a result of the existing fertile soils, the discovery of viable reserves of mineral resources.