Namibia appoints envoy to EAC

The Namibian government, yesterday, appointed its high commissioner to Tanzania, Japhet Isaac, as its representative to the East African Community. The envoy presented his credentials to EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu during a ceremony held at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania. During the ceremony, the envoy described his accreditation as an “honour and privilege”, and lauded the close historical relations between his country and EAC member states. The diplomat expressed his country’s commitment to the ongoing efforts to integrate the COMESA, EAC and SADC blocs through the tripartite framework. Namibia subscribes to SADC and currently holds the chairmanship of the bloc. Mwapachu welcomed Namibia’s quest for a closer relationship with the bloc, noting that the country is a major player in the expanding integration agenda, considering its membership to the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) which the tripartite framework seeks to embrace. He added that EAC would also use this enhanced relationship to learn from Namibia’s mining industry, notably with regard to diamonds and uranium. Namibia is the fourth largest producer of uranium in the world and one of Africa’s leading exporters of non-fuel minerals. “The EAC also hopes to draw lessons from the country’s superior meat processing industry and to share knowledge on harnessing/harvesting water,” Mwapachu statedOther countries that have accredited envoys to the bloc include Brazil, USA, Denmark, Turkey, Democratic Republic of Congo, Netherlands, Japan, Belgium, France, Canada, India, Finland, Sudan, United Kingdom and South Africa. Ends

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Namibia appoints envoy to EAC