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A weekly development news platform published by UrgeDevWire, produced by Urge Communications. Covering wider East African region.

Dev-News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire

EAC Advances Single Digital Market at D4D Forum

ARUSHA, 24 June 2026 —

The East African Community convened the 2026 Digital for Development Forum under the theme "From Strategy to Implementation: Building the Digital Single Market," advancing concrete steps toward cross-border digital integration across its eight partner states.

The forum marks a continuation of the EAC's Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project, which aims to increase affordable access to broadband connectivity and enhance cross-border digital services. The EAC's single digital market vision encompasses an online market, a data market, and a connectivity market, underpinned by digital skills development, regional innovation infrastructure, and harmonised legal and regulatory frameworks.The event is part of the EAC's broader programme under Partnership with the European Union's Digital for Development initiative, which supports digital transformation across the region. A core focus of the 2026 forum is accelerating implementation following previous policy commitments, with particular attention to data governance, AI standards, and cross-border interoperability. The EAC Secretariat has noted that full realisation of the single digital market requires political agreements, harmonised regulations, and coordinated investment in digital public infrastructure. According to the secretariate, the EAC's intra-regional trade reached US$18 billion in the year to June 2025, a 27 percent increase, with digital connectivity cited as a key enabler of trade efficiency and cross-border financial services.

Source: EAC Secretariat, 24 June 2026 online market, a data market, and a connectivity market, underpinned by digital skills development, regional innovation infrastructure, and harmonised legal and regulatory frameworks.

Dev-News Desk| East Africa. Urge- DevWire