EAC to assess Somalia’s readiness to join regional bloc

XINHUA|DAR ES SALAAM: The East African Community (EAC) will send a verification mission to Somalia this month to assess the country’s readiness to join the regional bloc, the EAC said in a statement.

The admission of Somalia into the EAC will bring the total number of the bloc’s member states to eight. The EAC now groups Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Uganda.

The EAC secretary general Peter Mathuki described Somalia’s long Indian Ocean Red Sea route that links Africa to the Arabian Peninsula as a vibrant economic zone, adding that it will bring immense benefits to the EAC. “The exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish and the expansive coastline is also set to boost the regional economy,” he said in the statement issued late Thursday.

On peace and security, Mathuki said the EAC was keen on stabilizing the eastern region of the DRC, a process that he said requires a political solution that will be provided by the EAC heads of state.

On the East African Monetary Union, Mathuki said the bloc would have a single currency within the next four years. He said that the EAC Council of Ministers is expected to make a decision soon on the location of the East African Monetary Institute, the precursor to the East African Central Bank that will issue the single currency.

“The single currency will ease business and movement of persons within the region. It is in line with our goal to make the region borderless so that people can move and trade freely as envisioned in the Common Market Protocol,” he said.