Somalia officially joins the East African Community

Somalia officially joins the East African Community

 Somalia officially joined the East African Community, three weeks after the group's countries accepted its membership in the regional bloc. President Mahmoud said on Friday that the formalization of Somalia’s accession to the bloc was “a beacon of hope for a future full of possibilities” and that his country looked forward to contributing to the region’s progress.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud signed a treaty granting his country full membership in the bloc on Friday, in a ceremony chaired by the current head of the East African Community, South Sudanese President Salva Kiir, in Uganda.

The country was admitted to the East African Community on November 24, becoming the bloc's eighth member after Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda.