Somalia gains full membership of East African Community

Somalia has officially joined the community of East African States(EAC).

Somalia’s Minister of Commerce and Industry, Jibril Abdirashid Haji, delivered the ratification instrument to the bloc’s Secretary-General during a brief ceremony at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, bringing the admission process to a close.

EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki stated that the step will allow Somalia to begin the process of joining the EAC’s areas of cooperation.

He mentioned trade, investment, industrial development, and free movement of people, labour, and services.

Somalia now has the green light to contribute to the development of a roadmap for her integration into the EAC.

The roadmap will detail how Somalia will implement the EAC’s four pillars the Customs Union, Common Market, Monetary Union and Political Federation.

Somalia first applied to join in 2012”.

It is now the eighth member of the bloc which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.

Somalia is expected to designate a ministry and appoint a minister to coordinate EAC matters as required by the Treaty.

It should also elect nine members of Parliament to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) and appoint a judge to sit in the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).

The EAC, which has its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, now comprises 8 countries, including Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC was the last member to join the regional organisation, in 2022.