With a population of some 17 million, Somalia has the longest coastline on the African continent, more than 3,000 km, bringing the EAC’s potential market to more than 300 million people.

Somalia officially joined the East African Community (EAC), the regional organization with a single market allowing the free movement of goods and people announced, on Friday, November 24, 2023.

The EAC, which has its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, now comprises eight 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 body in 2022.

The member countries have “decided to admit the Federal Republic of Somalia under the accession treaty”, declared Burundian Head of State, Évariste Ndayishimiye, the outgoing President of the EAC. The announcement was made from Arusha in the presence of Somali President, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, who expressed his “deep gratitude”.

“This moment is not just the culmination of an aspiration, but a glimmer of hope for a future full of possibilities and opportunities”, said Hassan.

Somalia’s entrance into the EAC now paves way for the admission of its neighbours, Eritrea and Djibouti, which have also been targeted in EAC’s expansion plan to include the entire horn of Africa, including Ethiopia and possibly Sudan.

Founded in 2000, one of the aims of the EAC is to facilitate cross-border trade by abolishing customs duties between its member states. It established a common market in 2010.

Excluding Somalia, the EAC countries cover an area of 4.8 million square kilometres and have a combined gross domestic product of 305 billion dollars, according to the EAC website. With a population of some 17 million, Somalia has the longest coastline on the African continent, more than 3,000 km, bringing the EAC’s potential market to more than 300 million people.

The Somali government, supported by the international community, has been fighting the insurgency of the radical Islamist Shebab, a group affiliated to Qaeda, for over 16 years. Kenya and Uganda are contributing troops to an African Union force deployed in Somalia to fight the rebels.

Somalia’s entry into the EAC is “a decisive step in the bloc’s expansion into East Africa”, notes the Mogadishu-based Heritage Institute for Policy Studies think-tank, but points to “Somalia’s poor record on governance, human rights and the rule of law” which could hamper its integration into the bloc.

Somalia first expressed interest in joining the EAC in 2012 but was turned down due to its internal troubles with Al Shabaab and lack of a stable legal and political environment at the time.  However, Mogadishu’s hopes of joining the regional bloc were rekindled when equally troubled South Sudan was admitted in 2016, and later DRC, which also has multiple conflicts within its borders, in 2022.

Somalia’s entrance into the EAC now paves way for the admission of its neighbours, Eritrea and Djibouti, which have also been targeted in EAC’s expansion plan to include the entire horn of Africa, including Ethiopia and possibly Sudan.

Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the EAC Rebecca Miano, said that the admission of Somalia would be a major boost for the private sector.

“EAC is already contributing to peace and security in Somalia with partner states providing troops as part of the African Union Mission in Somalia. The people of the rest of East Africa are eager to welcome their brothers and sisters from Somalia into the bloc,” said Maino.

EAC Secretary General Peter Mathuki said of Somalia that its 3,000 kms of coastline links Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, giving it the opportunity to increase regional trade.

“Entrepreneurs in Somalia will have greater opportunities for investment, easing some of the social and economic pressures that have come with its isolation,” Halkano Wario and Rahel Hassen wrote in their recent report for the Institute for Security Studies (ISS).

Somalia’s inclusion in the East African Community (EAC) would bring over 3,000Km of coastline, the longest in Africa, into the bloc, giving access to the Arabian Peninsula and boosting trade – ISS Africa.

Somalia’s bid to join the East African Community seems to have come at the right time as the bloc also seeks expansion to include nearly everyone in the Horn of Africa. More than a decade since Mogadishu first filed interest, all indications are that Somalia could be the eighth member of the bloc by end of the year. That has raised criticism as well, with some quarters terming the pace “too fast” for a country still at war with itself and several other governance problems.

The EAC says it will not stop at Somalia and wants to have as many as 10 members by 2025, at the earliest, or before the close of the decade. This, officials say, will help countries in the region apply the rules of trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement without worrying about concentric bloc memberships.

After Somalia, three more countries are expected to begin the admission process. They are all in the Horn. Ethiopia, Djibouti and Eritrea have been touted as possible candidates. But while the desire is to encourage all countries in the neighbourhood to belong to one bloc, critics say the EAC is ignoring its basic principles.

Under Article 3 of the EAC Treaty, the criteria for the admission of new countries into the community include: Acceptance of the community as set out in the Treaty; adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice.

There are growing concerns that instead of strengthening and increasing intra-trade, the admission of the latest EAC partner states including South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo and now Somalia is slowing down the integration process due to internal conflict in their respective countries.

This has been blamed partly on the EAC decision to rush for admission at the expense of adhering to its set criteria of new entrants on matters of democracy, rule of law, and human rights among other universally acceptable principles of good governance.

However, proponents argue good governance will come naturally where communities trade freely.

“Somalia attaches great importance to EAC as it creates business, trade and investment opportunities for country. It is one of the most integrated economic blocs on the continent, with intraregional trade accounting for roughly 30 percent of overall trade volumes,” argued Idd Bedel Mohamed, chairman of US-Somalia Business Council, an advisory body for Somalia business and investment policy, especially with neighbours as well as the US.

“Somalia offers opportunities to EAC countries that outweigh challenges it brings to the bloc. It has a vibrant market economy, a young generation and business-oriented society with substantial investment in Africa and Middle East and huge natural resources. It is to the best interest of EAC to accept Somalia to join the bloc,” said Bedel.

“The EAC will deliver the Africa we want in 2063. Whenever we admit a new member, we are talking of extra people, and that is markets. And so, DRC came in with an extra 100 million people. Somalia is coming in with huge benefits but also Somalia will be able to benefit from joining the community,” said EAC Secretary General Dr. Peter Mathuki.

AfCFTA is an ambitious continental trade pact that seeks to improve sluggish intra-trade by tapping Africa’s 1.3 billion people with an estimated trade volume of $300 trillion. It seeks to gradually eliminate over 90 percent of tariffs on goods, reduce barriers to trade in services and increasing Africa’s income by $450 billion by 2035. But countries must first integrate under regional blocs.

“Joining the community would enable Somalia to benefit from the EAC’s regional infrastructure projects such as roads, railways, and energy networks, which would create connectivity between the EAC and Somalia.”

“Although there are many benefits to joining the EAC, the depth of Somalia’s security problems raises critical questions about the bloc’s readiness and capacity to ensure peace, security and regional stability,” the ISS report reads.

However, ISS report accusations of corruption, and low levels of human rights and justice due to the breakdown of government institutions and the inability to conduct national elections, complicate its democratic credentials.

So, the prospect of Somalia-based insurgents moving into member countries, an unregulated influx of economic migrants, and smuggling of contraband and arms could make some EAC states “jittery” about Somalians entering the bloc. Another issue remains the rift between Somalia and Somaliland, a region that broke away in 1991 and claims independence.