Somalia Set to Join East Africa Community
Somalia Set to Join East Africa Community
Somalia Set to Join East Africa Community
At this moment, the Federal Republic of Somalia is about to become the eighth member of the East Africa Community (EAC).It has been reported that on Friday, November 24, Somalia would formally become a member of the EAC following a consensus among member states to permit its admission.
Somalia will join Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, and South Sudan as EAC member states. Earlier this month, EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki said Somalia could become a new member of the bloc before the end of the month.
He announced that the presidents of the EAC would convene at a regional summit on November 23–24 to approve Somalia’s admission to the organization.William Ruto, the president of Kenya, left Kenya less than two days after visiting Germany in order to fly to Tanzania for the summit.
Negotiations to bring Somalia into the EAC began in Nairobi on August 22, this year, between the Federal Republic of Somalia and the EAC. A group from the East African Community (EAC) attended the conference, comprising the EAC Secretary General and Rebecca Miano, the cabinet secretary for trade in Kenya. Experts from the seven EAC Partner States, the EAC Secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly, the East African Court of Justice, and representatives from Somalia convened for the nine-day negotiations.
Mathuki, who spoke during the meeting, said Somalia’s move to join the community would enable it to benefit from the EAC’s regional infrastructure projects, such as roads, railways, and energy networks.
“Somalia has the longest national coastline of over 3,000km in Africa, linking Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, which the region can tap into to increase intra-regional trade and improve the lives of East Africans,” Mathuki said.
Rebecca Miano, who also spoke in the meeting, added that negotiations between the EAC and Somalia were being held in accordance with a directive by the 22nd Extraordinary Summit to the Secretariat and the Council to commence negotiations with Somalia.”The negotiations are expected to focus on, among others, the following clusters: Political, Legal, and Institutional; Infrastructure, Productive and Social Sectors; and Economic and Trade Affairs,” Miano stated.
Honorable Mohamud Abdirahman Sheikh Farah, the Minister of Planning for Somalia, spoke on behalf of his nation and praised the action as a fantastic chance to advance the continent’s integration process. He also stated that his nation was excited to join its neighbors in the continent’s fastest-growing integration bloc.Talks over Ethiopia’s alleged interest in joining the EAC have not yet started, despite reports to the contrary.
