South Sudan President Salva Kiir and his Tanzanian counterpart John Pombe Magufuli who is also the Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit are scheduled to sign the Treaty of Accession into the Community on Friday.

The event will be held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

At their 17th Ordinary Summit held on 2nd March, 2016 in Arusha, Tanzania, the EAC Heads of State received the report of the Council of Ministers on the negotiations for the admission of South Sudan into the Community as a new member.

The Summit then designated the Chairperson to sign the Treaty of Accession with South Sudan.

South Sudan’s admission brings to six, the number of EAC member states with a population of 162 million people.

This implies that South Sudan now formerly joins Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi and it will be part of the regional integration projects that have been the subject of discussion among member countries.

South Sudan applied for EAC membership soon after gaining its independence from neighbouring Sudan in 2011, upon being invited by the presidents of Kenya and Rwanda.

Story By Catherine Ageno