- A week after the East African Community (EAC) admitted the membership of Rwanda and Uganda, Sudan has also expressed its willingness to join the regional economic and political bloc. It however remains to be seen whether this giant country will be welcomed into EAC, or whether only South Sudan will seek membership.
This was disclosed by the Sudanese ambassador to Tanzania, El-Mughira Ali Omer. Mr Omer said Sudan became interested in the regional bloc since it had signed the Naivasha Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, which ended Sudan's north-south civil war.
EAC presently consists of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. It does not include African Horn countries such as Ethiopia, however.
Mr Omer, who represents all of Sudan in Tanzania, indicated that an EAC membership could be most valuable for South Sudan, which according to the Naivasha peace currently is autonomous but soon may hold a referendum over total independence. South Sudan has good relations to EAC heavyweights such as Uganda, contrasting Khartoum's relations with the bloc.
Referring to South Sudan, Mr Omer said his land-locked wannabe-country would stand to benefit a lot from the East African community because it would boost its trade and development.
Without making it clear whether he referred to all of Sudan or South Sudan, the Sudanese convoy said his country would be a source of blessing for EAC because upon admission into the bloc, an oil pipeline could be constructed linking southern Sudan and Kenya. Sudan is now sub-Saharan Africa's third largest oil producer, only falling behind Nigeria and Angola.
The East African Community has a population of over 120 million, which according to President Yoweri Museveni, makes the bloc's market attractive to the world, citing China as an example.
Sudan, on the other hand, is a giant on its own, being Africa's largest country when measured by geographic extension. Measured by population, however, Sudan merely has 30 million inhabitants. This is less than both Tanzania and Kenya and just a little more than Uganda. In the EAC, the whole of Sudan would therefore only become the third largest country by population.
For South Sudan, the emerging nation has a unmapped population, which is to be mapped in a planned 2007-08 census. It is however generally estimated that South Sudan has a population of around 9 million. As a possible EAC member, South Sudan thus would become one of the smallest nations, in line with Rwanda and Burundi. Measured in extension, however, it would be second only to Tanzania.
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