East African Community (EAC) Partner States have been called upon to collaboratively explore and extract vital raw materials to bolster their defence industries and further promote regional integration.
This was emphasised during the opening of a two-day Multi-Experts Working Group meeting in Kampala, which sought to unite member states on a common approach to harnessing natural resources within each country for the benefit of their military industries.
The goal is to reduce reliance on foreign imports and strengthen self-sufficiency.
Maj Gen Sabiiti Muzeeyi, General Manager Luwero Industries Limited, highlighted that the meeting, which gathered CEOs of military industries from across the EAC, aimed to explore effective methods of leveraging the region’s abundant natural resources to create critical raw materials for military production.
“Countries all over the world have been ensuring that critical minerals that are essential for defence products are protected, and identified, to ensure that countries have some level of sovereignty in being able to have a reliable supply source of the raw materials that are required for the military industries in this sector,” Maj Gen Sabiiti noted.
Col Ndeng Mayom Manyang, Defence Liaison Officer for the Republic of South Sudan to the EAC, representing the EAC Secretary-General, remarked, “The success of the Defence Sector is a vital core value of our regional integration and precisely the military industry service,” adding that militaries and industries are the backbone of many robust global economies.
The meeting, attended by delegates from EAC Partner States, was themed: “To Come Up With Modalities In The Legal And Technical Aspects As Enabler In The Establishment And Co-Own Raw Materials Processing Industries For Iron, Copper, Cotton, Hides, Lithium Among Others.”
Representatives from Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, South Sudan, Somalia, and the East African Community were present.
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