Body of evidence An MoU has been signed in support of a research programme that will increase the availability of economic data and evidence throughout the East Africa Community. Undertaken by TradeMark East Africa and the African Economic Research Consortium, the three-year programme is expected to support, among others, inclusive trade and gender policies in the region. TMEA states on its website that ‘enhancing data availability, knowledge and research capacity [is] needed for sound, poverty-reducing trade policy analysis at the EAC secretariat, ministries departments and agencies, and other development partners’. Njuguna Ndung’u, AERC executive director and former governor of Central Bank of Kenya, adds that ‘data provides evidence that results in policy clarity. This is critical for private investments because markets respond to policy clarity’. 4 August 2020 Image: Gallo/Getty Images