Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa
Encyclopedia : C : CO : COM : 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. 9 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.
Membership
Current members:
- }
- }
- }
- }
- }
- } (1999)
- } (1994)
- }
- }
- } (June 2005; at the 10th Summit of COMESA)
- }
- }
- }
- }
- } (2001)
- }
- }
- }
- }
- }
Former members:
- } (quit in 1997)
- } (quit in 1997)
- } (quit on September 2, 2000)
- } (quit in May 2004)
Institutions
The following organs have decision-making power according to the treaties
- The Authority, composes of Heads of States or Government.
- The Council of Ministers
- The COMESA Court of Justice
- The Committee of Governors of Central Banks
- The Inter-governmental Committee
- The twelve Technical Committees
- The Consultative Committee of the Business Community and other Interest Groups
- The Secretariat. The Secretary General is appointed by the Authority for a duration of five years.
- 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
Comparison with other regional blocs
African Economic Community
Pillars
regional
blocs (REC)Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
statesin millions per capita African Economic Community>AEC 29,910,442 853,520,010 2,053,706 2,406 53 Economic Community of West African States>ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15 Economic Community of Central African States>ECCAS 6,667,421 121,245,958 175,928 1,451 11 Southern African Development Community>SADC 9,882,959 233,944,179 737,335 3,152 14 East African Community>EAC 1,763,777 97,865,428 104,239 1,065 3 Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa>COMESA 12,873,957 406,102,471 735,599 1,811 20 Intergovernmental Authority on Development>IGAD 5,233,604 187,969,775 225,049 1,197 7 Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic>Western
Sahara 3266,000 273,008 ? ? 4 4 Other
African
blocsArea (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
statesin millions per capita Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa>CEMAC 1 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6 Southern African Customs Union>SACU 1 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5 West African Economic and Monetary Union>UEMOA 1 3,505,375 80,865,222 101,640 1,257 8 Arab Maghreb Union>UMA 2 5,782,140 84,185,073 491,276 5,836 5 Agadir Agreement>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 Signatory to the AEC, but not participating in any bloc yet
4 Regional divisions
██ ██ During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO DatabaseTrade bloc#Most active regional blocs>Most active regional blocs Regional
bloc 1Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Member
states 1in millions per capita EU 3,977,487 460,124,266 11,723,816 25,480 25 CARICOM 462,344 14,565,083 64,219 4,409 14+1 3 ECOWAS 5,112,903 251,646,263 342,519 1,361 15 CEMAC 3,020,142 34,970,529 85,136 2,435 6 EAC 1,763,777 97,865,428 104,239 1,065 3 CSN 17,339,153 370,158,470 2,868,430 7,749 10 GCC 2,285,844 35,869,438 536,223 14,949 6 SACU 2,693,418 51,055,878 541,433 10,605 5 COMESA 3,779,427 118,950,321 141,962 1,193 5 NAFTA 21,588,638 430,495,039 12,889,900 29,942 3 ASEAN 4,400,000 553,900,000 2,172,000 4,044 10 SAARC 5,136,740 1,467,255,669 4,074,031 2,777 8 Agadir 1,703,910 126,066,286 513,674 4,075 4 EurAsEC 20,789,100 208,067,618 1,689,137 8,118 6 CACM 422,614 37,816,598 159,536 4,219 5 PARTA 528,151 7,810,905 23,074 2,954 12+2 3 Reference
blocs and
countries 2Area (km²) Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Political
divisionsin millions per capita UN 133,178,011 6,411,682,270 55,167,630 8,604 192 Canada 9,984,670 32,507,874 1,077,000 34,273 13 China (PRC) 4 9,596,960 1,306,847,624 8,182,000 6,300 33 India 3,287,590 1,102,600,000 3,433,000 3,100 35 Russia 17,075,200 143,782,338 1,282,000 8,900 89 USA 9,631,418 296,900,571 11,190,000 39,100 50 1 Including data only for full and most active members
2 The first two 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). ██ ██ During 2004. Source: CIA World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO DatabaseSee also
- Trade bloc
- East African Community (EAC)
- Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS)
- Southern African Development Community (SADC)
- Southern African Customs Union (SACU)
- Arab Maghreb Union (UMA)
- Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD)
- Agadir Agreement
External links
From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.
- } (quit in May 2004)
- } (quit on September 2, 2000)
- } (quit in 1997)
- } (quit in 1997)
- }
- }
- }
- }
- }
- } (2001)
- }
- }
- }
- }
- } (June 2005; at the 10th Summit of COMESA)
- }
- }
- } (1994)
- } (1999)
- }
- }
- }
- }