In a bid to bolster intra regional trade through creation of a wider market,
member states under the Common Market for East and Southern Africa
(COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa
Development Community (SADC) have signed a declaration to strengthen
one market within the bloc.
The high level summit held over the weekend in Johannesburg South Africa
adopted a developmental approach aimed to enhance tripartite integration process through market integration, infrastructure and industrial development.
In addition, the declaration done by heads of state and government officials under the bloc which also makes half of the AU membership, will oversee the harmonization of Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) negotiations aimed at forming the integrated market.
This is expected to favor the bloc’s population which is estimated at 600 million people and a total Gross domestic product of about USD 1 Trillion.
Under the theme deepening COMESA-EAC-SADC integration with a common vision towards a single market, the forum targets to increase investment in the region by enhancing competitiveness as well as developing cross-regional infrastructure.
Moreover, the tripartite initiative is a crucial step to achieve the African
vision of an economic community envisioned in the Lagos Plan of Action of 1980, the Abuja treaty of 1991 which is in line with the resolution of the African Union summit held in Banjul Gambia in 2006.
The Rwanda delegation was led by the Right Honorable Prime Minister
Bernard Makuza who represented the President.
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