Somalia, fatigued by conflict, officially joined the East African Community (EAC) on Friday, becoming the eighth member of the bloc in a bid to foster expanded free trade throughout the region.
At a summit held in Tanzania, Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye, the outgoing EAC chair, announced the decision: “We have decided to admit the Federal Republic of Somalia under the treaty of accession,”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia was present at the summit, solidifying the country’s inclusion alongside Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda within the EAC.
The EAC, headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania, since its establishment in 2000, aims to promote trade by eliminating customs duties among member nations, having established a common market in 2010.
With Somalia’s entry, a nation of 17 million people, the EAC’s market size expands to over 300 million individuals. Somalia’s extensive coastline, spanning more than 3,000 kilometers (1,800 miles) along the Indian Ocean, contributes substantially, extending the bloc’s reach from the Atlantic Ocean through the Indian Ocean to the Gulf of Aden.
But Somalia is struggling to stem a deadly insurgency against the Islamist Al-Shabaab group, portending more security challenges for the bloc.