Comparison of Somalia and the East Africa Community in Terms of Economy and Competition

Abstract

In the contemporary business environment, regional integration has become recognized as a powerful engine for advancing social and economic development. In order to pursue shared economic, social, and political development, economies in both developed and developing regions implement regional integration policies and initiatives. The East African Community is one of the integrations that will be used as an example of regional integration. The Community was founded in 1967. The three nations, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, decided to work together in a variety of economic and social areas.  The East African Community (EAC) currently consists of six countries and in 2022 Somalia has once again announced that it is a candidate to join this community. The purpose of this article is to conduct a research on whether Somalia will have economic and competitive power when it joins the East African Community and what advantages or disadvantages it will gain from Community in the short and long term. This study was conducted by looking at the currently written literature and also by interpreting data collected from the World Bank and Trading Economics databases. The analysis shows that if Somalia’s entry into the East African Community (EAC) is accelerated, it will rank as the sixth most productive nation in the EAC, producing only 2% of the Community’s total output, and will not contribute much. Additionally, it will not be an economically vigorous member of the East African community. As a result, Somalia must strengthen its economy and create a peaceful environment based on stable policies before joining this community. The production factories destroyed during the civil war must be restored. Education systems must be improved to raise an educated generation that can help increase the productivity of the country. However, if Somalia wants to achieve significant economic growth in the short and long term, top priority should be given to building economic infrastructure and fighting corruption.