Somalia: the new member of the East African Community
Somalia was officially admitted as the 8th member of the East African Community (EAC) on Friday, three weeks after it was approved at a leaders’ summit in Arusha, Tanzania.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud signed the Accession Treaty in the presence of South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, current Chairman of the EAC, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at a ceremony held in Entebbe, Uganda.
The EAC is both a trade bloc and a customs union. But the region’s largest economies – Kenya and Tanzania – have been accused of trying to stifle free trade.
The bloc has been criticized for expanding too quickly at the expense of meaningful integration.
Much like the admission of Somalia, the community has been criticized for approving the accession of the Democratic Republic of Congo, whose region is still at war.
The region is also plagued by political conflicts between member states, which critics say is undermining the bloc’s progress. Kinshasa, for example, accuses Kigali of waging a war against it using the M23 rebels as proxies.
Somalia, despite its internal challenges, sees its membership in the EAC as an important step to strengthen its economic stability and consolidate its relations with neighboring countries.
Somalia’s membership in the EAC also offers opportunities for regional cooperation, particularly in the areas of trade, investment and economic integration.
Challenges remain numerous for Somalia and the EAC, but this membership represents a step forward towards peace, stability and prosperity in the East African region.