Arusha, Tanzania. November 2024.
Should Sudan reconsider its earlier proposal to join the East African Community and if the EAC Heads of State Summit accept Khartoum’s request then the waters of the red sea will flow into Arusha.
Sudan had applied to join East African community nearly 14 years ago, but got turned down.
If the bid was accepted or should Khartoum revisit its request now that the situation has changed, Sudan’s inclusion will automatically link the now eight-member state community to the Red Sea directly.
Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, South-Sudan, DR Congo and Somalia already now have access to the Atlantic Ocean via DR Congo, as well as the Indian Ocean coastline stretching from the horn of Africa through Somalia, Kenya and Tanzania.
Somali which brought the horn of Africa and the longest coastline of the Indian Ocean, also gave access to the Gulf of Aden, though this factor is yet to be fully explored.
Khartoum, had appealed to become a member of the East African Community through an official application sent to Arusha back in November 2011, is the only segment left to also link the EAC with the red sea.
However, that was 14 years ago, and the now troubled country was asked to hold on a bit, until South-Sudan joined the community first.
But why?
An official at the EAC secretariat in Arusha explains that North Sudan did not have common borderline with and of the East African Community member states at the time, but now the situation has changed in Khartoum’s favor.
“North Sudan’s application was turned down because among the requirements for a country to become an affiliate state of the community is for it to share a common border with any of the already existing members,” explains the official.
During that time, the Summit of EAC Heads of State rejected Sudan’s application because it largely failed to meet one crucial criterion for the admission of a new Partner State into the Community.
That was the missing Geographical proximity to and interdependence between the aspiring country and the Partner States.
Since Khartoum shares a border with the Republic of South Sudan (RSS), which is now a member of the EAC, Sudan automatically qualifies to join the East African Community.
Hower, Khartoum still needs to make fresh application since the first one should have expired by now and it is not known if Sudan still want to be part of the Arusha-based community.
“The requirement for geographical proximity and other criteria notwithstanding, admission of a new country into the EAC is the prerogative of the Summit of Heads of State,” The Tanzania Times was told.
“Plus, it is also up to any country that wants to join the Community to make its own decision on the matter. It is not the policy of the Community go out soliciting the would-be members to join bloc.”
The odds against Sudan are stacking up
At the moment Sudan is a troubled country steeped in conflicts which should further alienates it from the possibility of joining the Arusha Club.
However, on the other hand, South-Sudan and DR Congo country’s that are also facing series of unrest have been included in the EAC.
Red Sea matters
Should Khartoum revisit the request and allowed to join the EAC fold, the Republic of Sudan will not only bring 50 million more people to the existing 302 million residents of East Africa spread across the six member states but also link the Arusha-based community to the Red Sea.
Once materialized, the ‘anticipated’ nine-member EA community is going to be separated by the Saudi Arabia with a length of just 355 kilometres across the Red Sea.
But through Somalia East Africa is essentially now linked to the Gulf of Aden.
However, the proposed addition of Sudan in the community will make the East African bloc to also have both the white and Blue Nile Rivers just as it now has access to the Indian and Atlantic Oceans.
Mapped onto 1.9 million square kilometres of real estate, North Sudan happens to be the third largest country on the continent after Algeria and Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Already DR Congo is a member of the EAC which means adding Sudan will make the community take almost the lion share of the African Continent’s real estate.
Sudan may have been the first to ask to join the EAC before DRC, Somalia and South Sudan, but already these three have been included in the fold while Khartoum is still left out.