The East Africa Community Secretary-General Peter Mathuki has hinted that the bloc will soon admit Ethiopia into the trade bloc.
Mathuki said the EAC market will be more than 500 million people after admitting Ethiopia into the bloc.
“After Somalia, the other country we should be thinking about is Ethiopia. If we admit Ethiopia……… Nobody will talk matters markets and security without talking about East Africa, and that’s a conversation we have started,” he said.
Speaking about Somalia’s admission, Mathuki said Somalia is at advanced stages of joining the Community.
“This was a decision of the heads of state, and I can tell you it’ll come with benefits. Somalia has a 3,000km coastline – the longest in Africa. Combine that with Kenya’s 1,400km and Tanzania’s and you have a 5,000km coastline. This means that the cost of transporting goods will become cheaper because there will be a bigger marine service line. We’ll deal with insecurity once it joins the Community,” he said.
Somalia has the longest national coastline of over 3,000km in Africa, linking Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, which the region will tap into to increase intra-regional trade. Somalia’s diverse waters are home to schools of different fish species
These include yellowfin tuna, blue marlin, dolphin fish, sardines, and many more amid the tremendous potential for successful expansion.
The coastline hosts one of the major shipping routes around Africa although once associated with piracy by boat-borne criminals.
The current EAC partner states are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and DR Congo.
