Africa: Tripartite African trade talks show progress

Ministers from countries within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) met recently in Lusaka to discuss the progress made towards the proposed tripartite free trade agreement (FTA). The meeting’s discussions centred on the ways to establish a single market by way of a tripartite FTA and thereby promote and attract both cross-border and foreign direct investment. COMESA, SADC and EAC include a total of 26 countries, some of which are already members of more than one of the region’s trade blocs, and a tripartite pan-regional FTA would open up a market of 580 million people.