East African Community Integration Deepens as Trade Surges 40 Percent and DRC Somalia Join

The East African Community (EAC), Africa's most advanced regional economic bloc, has experienced a year of remarkable expansion and deepening integration. Intra-EAC trade surged by 40 percent to $12.8 billion in the 2025 calendar year, up from $9.1 billion in 2024, according to data released by the EAC Secretariat in Arusha. The growth has been driven by the implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol, the accession of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia as full members, and the removal of remaining non-tariff barriers to cross-border trade.

The EAC now encompasses nine member states with a combined population of approximately 320 million people and a combined GDP of approximately $350 billion. The bloc's membership -- Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, the DRC, Somalia, and most recently the Republic of the Congo, which signed an accession treaty in April 2026 -- spans an area from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic, creating a contiguous economic zone of extraordinary scale and diversity.

EAC Secretary-General Veronica Nduva described the trade figures as "evidence that regional integration works when it is backed by political commitment and practical implementation." Speaking at the EAC Heads of State Summit in Nairobi on April 10, Nduva stated: "We are no longer just talking about integration -- we are delivering it. Every barrier removed, every border crossing streamlined, and every standard harmonized translates directly into more trade, more jobs, and more prosperity for East African citizens."

The DRC's accession, finalized in March 2024, has been the most consequential single expansion of the EAC. The DRC, with a population of approximately 102 million and vast mineral resources including cobalt, copper, gold, and coltan, adds enormous economic weight to the bloc. Trade between the DRC and other EAC members increased by 85 percent in 2025, driven primarily by exports of minerals and agricultural products from the DRC and imports of manufactured goods, construction materials, and consumer products from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda.

The DRC's integration has presented significant logistical challenges. The country's transport infrastructure is among the least developed in Africa, with approximately 2,200 kilometers of paved roads serving a nation the size of Western Europe. The EAC has prioritized the development of transport corridors connecting the DRC to Indian Ocean ports, including the Northern Corridor (Mombasa-Kampala-Goma-Bukavu) and the Central Corridor (Dar es Salaam-Kigoma-Bujumbura-Uvira). The African Development Bank has committed $2.1 billion to corridor development projects across the EAC-DRC axis.

Somalia's accession, approved by the EAC Council of Ministers in November 2023 and ratified by the Somali parliament in February 2024, has added a Horn of Africa dimension to the bloc. While Somalia's formal trade integration has been limited by ongoing security challenges, the accession has facilitated increased investment flows from EAC member states, particularly Kenya, into Somalia's telecommunications, financial services, and construction sectors. Kenya's Safaricom, for example, launched mobile money operations in Mogadishu in 2025, and Kenyan commercial banks have opened branches in Hargeisa and Garowe.

The EAC Customs Union, which has been operational since 2005, has been progressively deepened. The common external tariff has been harmonized at three bands: 0 percent for raw materials and capital goods, 10 percent for intermediate goods, and 25 percent for finished goods. However, implementation has been inconsistent, with several member states maintaining unauthorized protective measures. The EAC Secretariat's monitoring report for 2025 identified 127 non-tariff barriers, down from 186 in 2023, including import bans, arbitrary customs valuations, and divergent product standards.

The One Stop Border Post (OSBP) initiative has been one of the most visible successes of EAC integration. OSBPs have been established at 15 border crossings, including the major crossings at Malaba (Kenya-Uganda), Namanga (Kenya-Tanzania), and Kobero-Kabanga (Burundi-Tanzania). The OSBPs have reduced average border crossing times from 12 to 48 hours to 2 to 6 hours, significantly reducing the cost of cross-border trade. The EAC has set a target of establishing OSBPs at all 35 official border crossings by 2028.

The EAC Common Market Protocol, which guarantees the free movement of goods, services, capital, and labor across the bloc, has been partially implemented. Free movement of goods has been largely achieved through the customs union, but free movement of services and labor remains limited. Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have made the most progress on labor mobility, with their citizens able to work in each other's countries without work permits under the East African Community Passport framework. Tanzania has been more cautious, maintaining work permit requirements for certain professions.

Monetary integration remains a distant prospect. The EAC had previously set a target of establishing a monetary union by 2024, but this has been delayed indefinitely due to significant macroeconomic divergences among member states. Inflation rates range from 2.5 percent in Burundi to 35 percent in South Sudan, and fiscal deficits range from 2 percent of GDP in Kenya to 12 percent of GDP in Somalia. The proposed East African Currency Institute, which would serve as the future regional central bank, has been established in Arusha but remains in a preparatory phase.

Infrastructure development has been a priority. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network, extending from Mombasa through Nairobi to Naivasha in Kenya, has been complemented by the Dar es Salaam-Morogoro SGR section in Tanzania. The EAC has secured $8.4 billion from the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and Chinese lenders for additional SGR development, including the Nairobi-Kampala section (estimated at $3.5 billion) and the Dar es Salaam-Dodoma section (estimated at $2.8 billion).

Professor John Mkucha, an economist at the University of Dar es Salaam, described the EAC's trajectory as "the most successful experiment in African regional integration since independence." Mkucha noted that the bloc's progress, while uneven, has demonstrated that integration can deliver tangible economic benefits. "The 40 percent increase in intra-EAC trade is real, measurable, and directly attributable to integration policies," Mkucha said. "The challenge now is to deepen integration in areas where progress has been slow -- particularly services, labor mobility, and monetary policy -- while ensuring that the benefits of integration are distributed equitably across member states and within them."

For the 320 million citizens of the East African Community, deeper integration holds the promise of a larger market, more competitive prices, greater employment opportunities, and increased political and economic clout in a world where size matters. The challenge is to sustain the momentum of 2025 and convert the gains of integration into lasting prosperity for all members of the community.