Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

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**Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa**

Headquarters	Lusaka
Membership	20 member states
Official languages	English, French, Portuguese
Secretary General	Erastus J.O. Mwencha
Established - Signed - Ratified	5 November 1993 8 December 1994
Official website	http://www.comesa.int/

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, is a preferential trading area with twenty 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 African Economic Community. The Secretary-General of COMESA is Erastus J.O. Mwencha

1 Membership
2 Institutions
3 Comparison with other regional blocs
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] Membership

Current members:

Angola (21 Dec 1981)
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:

Lesotho (quit in 1997)
Mozambique (quit in 1997)
Tanzania (quit on September 2, 2000)
Namibia (quit in May 2, 2004)

[edit] 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
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 development are:

The COMESA 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

[edit] Comparison with other regional blocs

African Economic Community
Pillars regional blocs (REC)	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states
Pillars regional blocs (REC)	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states
AEC	29,910,442	853,520,010	2,053,706	2,406	53
ECOWAS	5,112,903	251,646,263	342,519	1,361	15
ECCAS	6,667,421	121,245,958	175,928	1,451	11
SADC	9,882,959	233,944,179	737,335	3,152	14
EAC	1,763,777	97,865,428	104,239	1,065	3
COMESA	12,873,957	406,102,471	735,599	1,811	20
IGAD	5,233,604	187,969,775	225,049	1,197	7
Western Sahara ³	266,000	273,008	?	?	N/A ⁴
Other African blocs	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states
Other African blocs	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states
CEMAC ¹	3,020,142	34,970,529	85,136	2,435	6
SACU ¹	2,693,418	51,055,878	541,433	10,605	5
UEMOA ¹	3,505,375	80,865,222	101,640	1,257	8
UMA ²	5,782,140	84,185,073	491,276	5,836	5
Agadir	1,703,910	126,066,286	513,674	4,075	4
¹ Economic bloc inside a pillar REC ² Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation ³ The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) is a signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet ⁴ Majority under military occupation by Morocco; some territory administered by the SADR smallest value among the blocs compared largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database This box: view • talk • edit

**Most active regional blocs**
Regional bloc ¹	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Member states ¹
Regional bloc ¹	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Member states ¹
EU	4,325,675	496,198,605	12,025,415	24,235	27
SAARC	5,136,740	1,467,255,669	4,074,031	2,777	8
CSN	17,339,153	370,158,470	2,868,430	7,749	10
ASEAN	4,400,000	553,900,000	2,172,000	4,044	10
NAFTA	21,588,638	430,495,039	15,279,000	35,491	3
EurAsEC	20,789,100	208,067,618	1,689,137	8,118	6
ECOWAS	5,112,903	251,646,263	342,519	1,361	15
SACU	2,693,418	51,055,878	541,433	10,605	5
GCC	2,285,844	35,869,438	536,223	14,949	6
COMESA	3,779,427	118,950,321	141,962	1,193	5
Agadir	1,703,910	126,066,286	513,674	4,075	4
CEMAC	3,020,142	34,970,529	85,136	2,435	6
CARICOM	462,344	14,565,083	64,219	4,409	14+1 ³
EAC	1,763,777	97,865,428	104,239	1,065	3
CACM	422,614	37,816,598	159,536	4,219	5
PARTA	528,151	7,810,905	23,074	2,954	12+2 ³
EFTA	529,600	12,233,467	471,547	38,546	4
Reference blocs and countries ²	Area (km²)	Population	GDP (PPP) ($US)		Political divisions
Reference blocs and countries ²	Area (km²)	Population	in millions	per capita	Political divisions
UN	133,178,011	6,411,682,270	55,167,630	8,604	192
Germany	357,050	82,438,000	2,585,000	31,400	16
Japan	377,873	128,085,000	4,220,000	33,100	47
Canada	9,984,670	32,507,874	1,165,000	35,200	13
Indonesia	1,904,569	234,300,000	935,000	4,000	33
Brazil	8,514,877	187,560,000	1,616,000	8,600	27
Russia	17,075,200	143,782,338	1,723,000	12,100	89
India	3,287,590	1,102,600,000	4,042,000	3,700	35
China (PRC) ⁴	9,596,960	1,306,847,624	10,000,000	7,600	33
USA	9,631,418	300,000,000	12,980,000	43,500	50
¹ Including data only for full and most active members ² The first five states in the World by area, population and GDP (PPP) ³ Including non-sovereign autonomous entities of other states ⁴ Data for the People's Republic of China does not include Hong Kong, Macau and regions administered by the Republic of China (Taiwan). smallest value among the blocs compared largest value among the blocs compared During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database This box: view • talk • edit