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COMESA Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA,) says the preparations for East African Community (EAC) Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State and Governments Summit set for 7 – 10 June 2015 in Egypt is progressing well.
COMESA secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya indicates that the leaders of the 26 Member States are expected to congregate on 10 June 2015 to sign the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement.
Mr. Ngwenya says this will be the third Summit of the tripartite bloc.
He explains that senior officials and Ministers involved in the negotiations will meet prior to the Summit to work on the reports that will be presented to the Heads of State for consideration
He adds that these will include the report on the Third Meeting of the Tripartite Council of Ministers and the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement, the Declaration Launching Phase II Negotiations for the Tripartite Free Trade Area and Roadmap.
Mr. Ngwenya says the decision to launch the Tripartite FTA was reached by the Tripartite Sectoral Committee of Ministers that met in Bujumbura, Burundi from 24 – 25 October 2014. The Ministers took into account the fact that the majority of the Tripartite Member/Partner States had made ambitious tariff offers and were agreed on Rules of Origin to be applied in the interim whilst further work continues on product specific Rules of Origin.
The Tripartite TFA encompassing 26 Member/Partner States from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), with a combined population of 625 million people and a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of USD 1.2 trillion, will account for half of the membership of the African Union and 58% of the continent’s GDP.