The East African Community (EAC) Summit of Heads of State has admitted the Federal Republic of Somalia to the regional bloc, making it its 8th member country.
The decision was reached during the 23rd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State which took place on November 24, in Arusha, Tanzania – the headquarters of the bloc.
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According to information shared by the EAC Secretariat, in accordance with Article 3 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC, which provides, among others, that any country granted membership to the Community can be one of its Partner States.
The Federal Republic of Somalia made its application to join the EAC in 2012. Since its application, the matter remained pending due to various reasons, according to the EAC Secretariat.
"The Somali people are honored to be part of the EAC! This is a beacon of hope for us. Hope for a future of opportunities and prosperity for Somalia, through regional integration!,” Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the President of Somalia, said as he welcomed the news.
The Secretariat indicated that EAC officially launched the verification mission to assess the Federal Republic of Somalia’s readiness to join the Community, on January 25, 2023.
Speaking at the launch of that mission, EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki said "Somalia has the longest national coastline of over 3,000 kilometers in Africa, linking Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, which the region will tap into to increase intra-regional trade.”
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According to information from EAC, Somalia shares borders with one EAC Partner State, namely Kenya, and has strong historical, linguistic, economic and socio-cultural links with all the EAC Partner States.
It indicated that under the Treaty, the Criteria for the admission of new countries into the Community include acceptance of the Community as set out in the Treaty; adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice; potential contribution to the strengthening of integration within the East African region, and; geographical proximity to and inter-dependence between it (the foreign country) and the EAC Partner States.
Others are the establishment and maintenance of a market-driven economy; and; social and economic policies being compatible with those of the Community.
Somalia joins the already existing seven EAC Partner States, namely Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).