The East African Securities Regulatory Authorities (EASRA) and FSD Africa seek to engage a qualified firm or consortium (the “Consultant”) to undertake a comprehensive diagnostic assessment of the underutilisation of the East African Community (EAC) Regional Bond Issuance Framework, established in 2015. Despite the framework’s aim of harmonising cross-border approval processes through a singlepassport mechanism, no regional bond has been issued under it since its enactment.

The objective of this assessment is to identify the various factors including regulatory, operational, institutional, market, and gender and youth-related barriers that have hindered utilisation of the framework and to provide actionable, evidence-based recommendations to strengthen regional capital markets integration and facilitate future cross-border bond issuance across EAC Partner States.