Sending money to a relative in another EAC country could soon be faster, cheaper, and more reliable, following a knowledge exchange mission between the EAC and European Union held in Germany and Luxembourg from 23–29 March 2026.
The mission, part of the EU–EAC Digital Economy, E-Commerce, E-Payments and Public E-Services Programme (DEEP), brought together delegates from EAC partner state central banks, the East African Development Bank, and the FSD Network to study payment system best practices.
The goal: implement the EAC Payment System Masterplan to better serve the millions of small businesses, traders, and families who depend on cross-border payments every day. According to the EAC Secretariat, strengthening interoperability and learning from global best practices will help build faster, more secure, and more inclusive payment systems for East African citizens and businesses.
The implications for community development are significant. Mama Mboga in Arusha sending school fees to a niece in Kampala. A boda boda rider in Kigali receiving payment from a customer in Nairobi. A cooperative in Bujumbura paying suppliers in Dar es Salaam. Each of these transactions is currently slowed and made expensive by fragmented payment systems.
If the masterplan delivers, it will mark one of the most concrete benefits of EAC integration to reach ordinary citizens — the kind of “integration you can feel” that policy speeches have long promised.
