The Federal Republic of Somalia has formally joined the East African Neighborhood (EAC) as its eighth Companion State, after depositing the Instrument of Ratification to the EAC Secretary Basic Hon. Dr. Peter Mutuku Mathuki immediately on the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
A high-level delegation led by Somalia’s Minister of Commerce and Trade, Hon. Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi, was in Arusha to finish the accession course of, which started in December 2023, when Somalia’s President Sheikh Hassan Mohamud and the Chairperson of the Summit of EAC Heads of State, H.E. Salva Kiir Mayardit, who can be the President of the Republic of South Sudan, signed the Treaty of Accession in Entebbe, Uganda. The signing ceremony was witnessed by Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
Dr. Mathuki welcomed Somalia as the most recent member of the EAC, a regional intergovernmental group that goals to deepen the cooperation amongst its Companion States in political, financial, and social fields. He stated that Somalia’s membership would strengthen the EAC’s imaginative and prescient of a affluent, aggressive, safe, secure, and politically united East Africa.
He additionally praised Somalia for fulfilling the necessities of the EAC Treaty and the Protocol of Accession, and urged Somalia to ratify and implement the EAC Protocols, Legal guidelines, and Laws, and to take part actively within the EAC organs and establishments.
Hon. Jibril Abdirashid Haji Abdi expressed his appreciation to the EAC for accepting Somalia as a full member, saying that it was a historic achievement for his nation. He stated that Somalia was dedicated to contributing to the EAC’s objectives and targets, and to benefiting from the EAC’s achievements in varied sectors, resembling commerce, infrastructure, well being, training, agriculture, and peace and safety.
He additionally stated that Somalia would share its experiences and finest practices with the EAC, particularly within the areas of counter-terrorism, maritime safety, and humanitarian affairs.
The EAC was established in 1999, following the collapse of the unique East African Neighborhood in 1977. The EAC has a inhabitants of about 186 million individuals and a mixed Gross Home Product of about US$ 193 billion. The opposite Companion States of the EAC are Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda.
