ISDS Case Map
COMESA
A technical team from the Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism last week held a meeting with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Secretariat over the progress of the local sugar industry.
Twenty-six eastern and southern African nations are making progress toward agreeing on a free trade area that will create a market with nearly 600 million people and combined gross domestic product of $1 trillion, South African President Jacob Zuma said.
Three regional economic communities in Africa -- COMESA, EAC and SADC -- are expected to sign an agreement this year to establish an enlarged market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa.
Vice-President Guy Scott has said there is need to put in place a strong legal framework that will promote free and fair trade within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has asked the government to seek an extension of the Comesa safeguards to protect the local sugar industry from excessive imports from the Comesa region.
Negotiations between three trade blocs in Africa to create a free trade area were running behind schedule in terms of reaching their 2014 deadline but were nevertheless progressing, South Africa Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said last week.
Kenya's sugar sector is in limbo as the COMESA safeguard period nears its end. COMESA is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
The history of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) began in December 1994, when it was formed to replace the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), which had existed from the earlier days of 1981.
The Government of Zambia has called on the three African regional economic communities (RECs) -- the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) -- to speed up their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.
African Development Bank is stepping in to help East and South African region accelerate the push towards a common currency status. To achieve this, it has drafted a stringent set of financial guidelines to steer the process.
