Somalia has been admitted as the eighth full member of the East African Community (EAC) after joining the bloc today. The decision to admit Somalia was taken at an extraordinary summit of EAC heads of state in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC launched a verification process earlier to assess Somalia's suitability and level of conformity with the criteria for admitting new member states as outlined in the EAC treaty. Somalia was found to meet all the requirements.
In a statement, the EAC said Somalia shares borders and strong historical ties with Kenya. It also has economic and socio-cultural links with other partner states in the region. With over 3,000 km of coastline, Somalia was touted to increase intra-regional trade by providing the EAC access to ports on the Arabian Peninsula.
Somalia now joins the existing seven members - Burundi, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania. The decision was taken in accordance with Article 3 of the EAC treaty and takes the total number of member states to eight.
The admission of Somalia is expected to boost integration and boost trade and economic activities in the East African region. The combined population of EAC member states now stands at over 283 million spread across the region.