Having been considered as a dormant continent for long, Africa is now the fastest growing continent in the world. This may look as an overstatement but a keen economic survey confirms this. The rapid growth is attributed to the natural resources that dot this continent from one corner to the other. Looking at the continent economic growth without factoring the East African development will not give a true picture given that much of this growth is as a result of rapid economic expansion in East African countries.

The countries that make East African community include Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi although there are other countries that also lie at the horn of Africa. Rwanda has continuously featured as the fastest developing country within the community although Kenya remains the economic giant among the member states.

The discovery of large oil deposits in both Kenya and Uganda with more exploration going on tells a story when it comes to the increasing interest in this region. The countries are also blessed with many valuable minerals with large copper deposits coming from Uganda and diamond from Tanzania.

Kenyan capital Nairobi city for instance has in the recent past seen many multinational firms set up their headquarters as the operation centers targeting to serve Eastern and Central Africa market. Nairobi remains the regional economic hub while Rwanda on the other hand is the fastest growing nation.

The most visible evidence of the faster rate of East African development can be seen from the infrastructural improvement in the region. The Kenyan port city of Mombasa which remains the main sea entry point to the region has seen the expansion of the ports. This is meant to accommodate more ships of larger capacity which aims to meet the demand created by the regional market.

Ambitious project of consolidating all East African member communities under one umbrella is at advanced stage. The completion of this process will see both political and economic integration of these countries with a single passport for the whole region and a single currency. This will foster trade and attract both tourists and investors to the region.

East African development is however facing several threats that threaten to slow down the overall rate of growth. High insecurity for instance resulting from terrorist activities keeps investors away. Some neighboring countries like Somalia and Southern Sudan are still unstable in terms of governance, a situation that increases smuggling of illegal firearms through the porous borders increasing insecurity.

Very high population growth rate on the other hand increases joblessness leading to increased social evils. With high HIV infection rates and poverty level in most of these countries, the general economic development process is taking place in a pace that is below its potential.

The huge agricultural potential in this region can be used as an opportunity to solve the concerns of joblessness. This is only possible with the adoption of appropriate technology that will allow for proper utilization of natural resources like many lakes and rivers in the region in addition to fertile lands, good climate and large markets in the developed countries to push East African development to the next level.