Somalia is one step closer to joining the East African Community (EAC), with negotiations for its admission set to begin later this month.
The EAC Secretary-General, Peter Mathuki, said on Wednesday that Somalia had met all the requirements for membership and that he was confident that the country would be accepted into the bloc this year.
“Somalia has made a critical step towards becoming the eighth member of the EAC,” Mathuki said at a press conference in Arusha, Tanzania. “The negotiations for admitting it will begin on the 22nd of this month to the 5th of September.”
Mathuki said that the EAC had conducted a verification mission to assess Somalia’s readiness to join the bloc and that the report had been shared with all partner states.
Somalia applied to join the EAC in 2012, but the process was delayed due to political instability in the country. However, the situation has improved in recent years and the EAC is now confident that Somalia is ready to join the bloc. If Somalia is admitted into the EAC, it will become the eighth member of the community, which also includes Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The EAC is a regional economic bloc that aims to promote trade, investment, and development in East Africa.
The accession of Somalia to the EAC would be a major boost for the bloc and would help to promote peace and stability in the region. It would also open up new opportunities for trade and investment between Somalia and the other EAC member states.
The negotiations for Somalia’s admission to the EAC will be held in Nairobi, Kenya. The outcome of the negotiations will be decided by the EAC Heads of State Summit, which is scheduled to be held later this year. In
Somalia’s hopes and benefits from joining the EAC, Somalia’s former Foreign Affairs minister, Dr Abdusalam Omer, who is currently the Presidential Special Envoy to the East African Community, told The EastAfrican that the negotiations will be addressing all the EAC pillars of integration, comparing and contrasting them with Somalia’s rules and laws.
“This will also include setting the time frame for Somalia to implement and harmonize the laws with that of the region,” Dr Abdusalam said.
He added that Somalia hopes to gain a lot from joining the EAC, including improved trade and investment opportunities, as well as access to the bloc’s common market. “The way forward for Africa and East Africa is the regional integration and opening up markets, as this will help lower the cost of products,” Dr Abdusalam said.
“Integration is the nemesis of the new type of terrorism, and, with regional integration and cooperation, terrorism will be defeated.” Somalia also hopes to benefit from the EAC’s security cooperation mechanisms, which could help to improve the security situation in the country.
The negotiations for Somalia’s admission to the EAC are a significant step forward for the country and the region. If successful, the accession would be a major boost for the EAC and would help to promote peace, stability, and prosperity in East Africa.
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