Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa Marché commun de l’Afrique orientale et australe Mercado Comum da África Oriental e Austral Seat of Secretariat Lusaka, Zambia Official languages English, French and Portuguese Type Trade bloc Membership 19 member states Leaders - Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya Establishment - Signed 5 November 1993 - Ratified 8 December 1994 Website http://www.comesa.int/ The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is a preferential trading area with nineteen member states stretching from Libya to Zimbabwe. COMESA formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in 2000, with Rwanda and Burundi joining the FTA in 2004 and the Comoros and Libya in 2006. COMESA is one of the pillars of the Afric- an Economic Community. In 2008, COMESA agreed to an expanded free-trade zone including members of two other African trade blocs, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Membership Current members: • Burundi (21 Dec 1981) • Comoros (21 Dec 1981) • Democratic Republic of the Congo (21 Dec 1981) • Djibouti (21 Dec 1981) • Egypt (6 Jan 1999) • Eritrea (1994) • Ethiopia (21 Dec 1981) • Kenya (21 Dec 1981) • Libya (3 June 2005) (at the 10th Summit of COMESA) • Madagascar (21 Dec 1981) • Malawi (21 Dec 1981) • Mauritius (21 Dec 1981) • Rwanda (21 Dec 1981) • Seychelles (2001) • Sudan (21 Dec 1981) • Swaziland (21 Dec 1981) • Uganda (21 Dec 1981) • Zambia (21 Dec 1981) • Zimbabwe (21 Dec 1981) Former members: • Angola • Lesotho (quit in 1997) • Mozambique (quit in 1997) • Tanzania (quit on September 2, 2000) • Namibia (quit in May 2, 2004) Institutions The following organs have decision-making power according to the treaties • The COMESA Authority, composes of Heads of States or Government. • The COMESA Council of Ministers • The COMESA Court of Justice From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa 1 • The Committee of Governors of Central Banks The following organs make recommendations to the institutions above: • The Inter-governmental Committee • The Twelve Technical Committees • The Consultative Committee of the Business Community and other Interest Groups • The COMESA Secretariat. The Secretary General is appointed by the Authority for a duration of five years. Other institutions created to promote devel- opment are: • The PTA Bank (Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank) in Nairobi, Kenya • The COMESA Clearing House in Harare, Zimbabwe • The COMESA Association of Commercial Banks in Harare, Zimbabwe • The COMESA Leather Institute in Ethiopia • The COMESA Re-Insurance Company (ZEP-RE)in Nairobi, Kenya Comparison with other regional blocs African Economic Community GDP (PPP) ($US) Pillars regional blocs (REC) Area (km²) Population in millions per capita Member states AEC 29,910,442 853,520,010 2,053,706 2,406 53 ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15 ECCAS 6,667,421 121,245,958 175,928 1,451 11 SADC 9,882,959 233,944,179 737,335 3,152 15 EAC 1,817,945 124,858,568 104,239 1,065 5 COMESA 12,873,957 406,102,471 735,599 1,811 20 IGAD 5,233,604 187,969,775 225,049 1,197 7 Western Sahara 1 266,000 273,008 ? ? N/A 2 GDP (PPP) ($US) Other African blocs Area (km²) Population in millions per capita Member states CEMAC 3 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6 SACU 3 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5 UEMOA 3 3,505,375 80,865,222 101,640 1,257 8 UMA 4 5,782,140 84,185,073 491,276 5,836 5 GAFTA 5 5,876,960 166,259,603 635,450 3,822 1 The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet 2 Majority under military occupation by Morocco; some territory administered by the SADR 3 Economic bloc inside a pillar REC 4 Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation 5 Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures smallest value among the blocs compared largest among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World F 2005, IMF WEO Database See also African Union This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the African Union Institutions • Casablanca Group • Union of African States • Organisation of African Unity • African Economic Community • African Unification Front Executive • Assembly • Chairperson • Commission • Chairperson • Conference and Events • Peace & Sec. • Pol. Affairs • Infra. & Energy • Soc. Affairs • HR, Sci., & Tech. • Trade and Industry • Rural Econ. & Agri. • Economic • Legal Counsel • Executive Council • Rep. Committee Legislature • Pan-African Parliament • President • Bureau • Secretariat • List of members • Permanent Committees • Rural Econ., Agri., Resources, Eviron. • Monetary & Financial • Trade, Customs, & Immigration • Cooperation, IR, & Conflict • Transport, Industry, Communications, Energy, Science, & Tech. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa 2 • Health, Labour, & Social • Educ., Culture, Tourism, & HR • Gender, Family, Youth, Disabilities • Justice & Rights • Rules, Privileges, & Discipline Judiciary • Sirte Declaration • Constitutive Act of the AU • Law • Charter on Rights • Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights • Court of Justice • Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights • List of judges Advisory bodies • Peace and Security Council • Economic, Social, and Cultural Council • Specialised Technical Committees • Rural Econ., Agri. • Monetary & Financial • Trade, Customs, and Immigration • Industry, Sci. & Tech., Energy... • Transport, Comm., Tourism • Health, Labor, Social • Edu., Culture, & Human Resources Financial bodies • AEC Pillars (Abuja Treaty) • CEN-SAD • COMESA • EAC • ECCAS/CEEAC • CEMAC • ECOWAS • UEMOA • WAMZ • IGAD • SADC • SACU • AMU/UMA • African Central Bank • African Monetary Fund • African Investment Bank • New Partnership for Africa’s Development • African Peer Review Mechanism Decentralised bodies • Agencies of the AU Related topics • Elections • Enlargement • Foreign relations Other countries · Atlas Politics portal • Trade bloc • East African Community (EAC) • Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) • Southern African Development Community (SADC) • Southern African Customs Union (SACU) • Arab Maghreb Union (UMA) • Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) • Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA) External links • COMESA web site • Information on COMESA history • Agreement establishing COMESA Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Com- mon_Market_for_Eastern_and_Southern_Africa" Categories: Economy of the African Union, International organizations of Africa, Regional Economic Communities of the African Union, Trade blocs This page was last modified on 10 May 2009, at 15:40 (UTC). 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