S Sudan's entry into EAC portends good for the bloc

South Sudan, the world’s youngest country, has finally joined the East African Community (EAC), almost five years after it formally applied for membership. The announcement was made on March 2, 2016, following the 17th Ordinary Session of Heads of State summit in Arusha, Tanzania.

The first move to have South Sudan join the EAC bloc was initiated by Kenyan and Rwandan leaders during celebrations for South Sudan’s independence on July 9, 2011. These calls prompted South Sudan to submit a formal application for membership just within months of its independence. Nevertheless, these efforts were deferred by EAC member States in 2011, on the basis of institutional and legal bottlenecks as outlined in Article 3 of the EAC treaty concerning basic principal requirements for admission of new member States.

The delay for membership was further compounded by the outbreak of South Sudan conflict in December 2013. The protracted conflict undermined South Sudan’s institutional authority and state-building measures. As a result of the weak institutional framework, the EAC could not accept outright the admission of South Sudan into the regional bloc due to protracted political instability.

However, with the signing of the August 2015 peace agreement, following pressure from the UN Security Council’s cross cutting sanctions on key South Sudan leader, EAC seemingly took advantage of the prevailing fragile peace to admit South Sudan into the regional bloc. The peace agreement, although still delicate, has opened an opportunity for political stability in the war weary nation.

The admission, albeit late in coming, needs to be understood within the context of shared historic, socio-economic and political ties between South Sudan and other EAC member states. The close ties between South Sudan and EAC member States was recently reiterated by Benjamin Marial, the South Sudan government’s foremost diplomat. While justifying South Sudan’s admission into the EAC, he pointed out that over 70,000 South Sudanese students are currently enrolled in schools across Kenya and Uganda.

This huge number of South Sudanese, spread across East Africa, explains the close-knit history of South Sudan and other EAC citizens. Nevertheless, despite these close historical ties, South Sudan’s entry into the EAC portends both challenges and opportunities not only at the domestic national level, but also at the regional level for EAC member states.

For the EAC member states, one of the major concerns for worry as South Sudan joins the regional bloc is regional political stability. The world’s youngest nation has continuously been plagued by conflict, contrary to what most observers expected after breaking up with Khartoum and becoming an independent state.

At the national domestic level, the main challenge that South Sudan government is likely to witness is the decline of revenue from import tax. The application of EAC common external tariff, coupled with the fact that goods manufactured from within the regional bloc entering EAC member states are duty free, is likely to see a slump in government revenue. This is especially so given the fact that South Sudan heavily relies on imports, mostly from Uganda and Kenya, which it subjected to taxation on its own term.

Nevertheless, South Sudan could still negotiate with EAC on the timelines for implementation of key EAC protocols such as the principle of origin. This will provide room for harmonisation of domestic and regional tax regimes.

South Sudan’s entry into the EAC is a significant step not only for its citizens, but also to EAC member states as well.