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COMESA

Common Market for East and Southern Africa


Africa’s "grand" FTA negotiation progressing well: SADC officials
Negotiations to set up a grand free trade zone encompassing 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa are progressing well and may be completed in 2015, a year before schedule, SADC officials reveal.
Govt, COMESA act to boost AGOA exports
The Zambian government in collaboration with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has put in place a committee which will look at ways and means of increasing exports to the Africa Growth Opportunity Act market in the United States of America.
Gloom as Kenya fails to meet Comesa rule
Kenyan sugarcane farmers and consumers face a bleak future, as Government departments tasked with implementing reforms in the sector drag their feet.
‘COMESA should settle tariff issues on sugar’
Zambia Sugar Plc has expressed concern at the non-application of tariffs on sugar imported outside the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) as it is displacing regional producers.
Negotiations on the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement are moving forward
African high-level officials indicated recently that negotiations for the establishment of a free-trade area spanning three major regional economic communities in Africa have progressed well and could conclude by the end of this year.
Tripartite FTA: Answer to poor intra-African trade
African countries need to look at the possibility of fast-tracking the tripartite Free Trade Area if hopes of an improved intra-African trade are to be met anytime soon, according to the African Union Commission
Kenya steps up lobbying for sugar safeguards deal
A technical team from the Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism last week held a meeting with the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) Secretariat over the progress of the local sugar industry.
Zuma says Eastern, Southern Africa moving toward Free Trade Area
Twenty-six eastern and southern African nations are making progress toward agreeing on a free trade area that will create a market with nearly 600 million people and combined gross domestic product of $1 trillion, South African President Jacob Zuma said.
Tripartite FTA soon a reality
Three regional economic communities in Africa — COMESA, EAC and SADC — are expected to sign an agreement this year to establish an enlarged market covering 26 countries in eastern and southern Africa.
Firm Comesa Trade Laws Needed, Says Veep
Vice-President Guy Scott has said there is need to put in place a strong legal framework that will promote free and fair trade within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
Plea to extend Comesa tariffs
Former Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi has asked the government to seek an extension of the Comesa safeguards to protect the local sugar industry from excessive imports from the Comesa region.
Slow progress in Africa free trade talks
Negotiations between three trade blocs in Africa to create a free trade area were running behind schedule in terms of reaching their 2014 deadline but were nevertheless progressing, South Africa Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said last week.
Kenya bracing for Comesa sugar imports
Kenya’s sugar sector is in limbo as the COMESA safeguard period nears its end. COMESA is the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Customs regime: Is it vital for Zambia?
The history of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) began in December 1994, when it was formed to replace the Preferential Trade Area (PTA), which had existed from the earlier days of 1981.
Call to speed up African Tripartite FTA negotiations
The Government of Zambia has called on the three African regional economic communities (RECs) — the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) — to speed up their free trade agreement (FTA) negotiations.
Bank in push for a single monetary unit
African Development Bank is stepping in to help East and South African region accelerate the push towards a common currency status. To achieve this, it has drafted a stringent set of financial guidelines to steer the process.
Firm makes history after suing Mauritius in Comesa Court of Justice
Kenyan firms — regardless of their size — can now sue the government in the Common Market for Southern Africa (Comesa) Court of Justice, the highest in the intergovernmental organisation, if its actions break rules of the trading bloc.
Experts support Uganda’s decision to join COMESA FTA
Economic experts have supported the recent decision taken by the government of Uganda to join the COMESA FTA, saying it would increase the volume of Ugandan exports to the COMESA FTA and promote the country’s economic growth.
Experts support Uganda’s decision to join COMESA FTA
Economic experts have supported the recent decision taken by the government of Uganda to join the COMESA FTA, saying it would increase the volume of Ugandan exports to the COMESA FTA and promote the country’s economic growth.
Regional blocs seek to remove trade barriers
Three regional economic communities (Recs) have taken the lead as Africa seeks to remove trade barriers by 2017.