Discussions on Somalia’s application to join the East African Community (EAC) are scheduled to start on Tuesday, the bloc's secretariat said in a statement.
According to the body, the negotiations are due to take place at Kenya School of Government in the capital Nairobi.
Peter Matuki, EAC secretary general, recently said that there will be a series of meetings in Nairobi with Somalia's accession being one of the main items on the agenda.
To define the eligibility of Somalia, which applied to join the community back in 2012, the EAC initiated a verification mission this January.
Later on June 6, the report of the verification team was accepted by the EAC heads of state in Burundi's Bujumbura, paving the way for the EAC Council of Ministers and Secretariat to commence negotiations with Mogadishu.
According to Dr. Abdusalam Omer, Somalia’s former foreign minister and currently the presidential special envoy to the East African Community, the debates will consider all major areas of EAC integration, while comparing them with Somalia's regulations and legislation.
Apart from Somalia, other countries on the continent are also aiming to enter the East African bloc.
In July, Kenyan President William Ruto invited the Comoros to join the bloc to boost economic cooperation.
Earlier, Ruto likewise spoke out about the chances of Ethiopia and Sudan joining the organization, calling them "likely to join".