The Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and the King Abdullah Petroleum Studies and Research Center (KAPSARC) hosted the 4th East Africa Energy work shop, from the 14th to the 15th of September 2015, at Serena Hotel, Lweza. The workshop was attended by high level officials from the Ministry of Energy, Uganda; the Ministries of Finance in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania; representative of the secretariat of the Vision 2030, Kenya; the National Planning Authority, Uganda; Central Banks in Uganda and Tanzania; the Africa Development Bank (AfDB); the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the International Growth Centre (IGC); academics from the Universities of Oxford, George Washington and Addis Ababa and members of the civil society in the three East African countries.
A communique from the workshop indicates that the scale of macro-economic impact of oil and gas revenues on East African countries is less than the public expectation. A greater and a more sustainable economic transformation comes from the non- oil/gas sectors such as agriculture. Therefore, East African governments should explore policies that support the use its oil and gas revenue to develop human capital by investing on education and health of its young population and supporting its growth sectors such agriculture and tourism through investment on growth fundamental such as infrastructure. The workshop also acknowledged East Africa’s attempts to put in place good governance structures as genuine intentions to set ground rules to allow for accountability of expenditure of oil and gas revenues.