Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA)
| |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
| Anthem: "People of Africa"[1] | |
 Map of Africa indicating COMESA membership. Current members Former members | |
| Secretariat |  Lusaka,Zambia |
| Official languages | |
| Type | Trade bloc |
| Membership | 21 member states |
| Leaders | |
• Chairman | William Ruto |
• Secretary General | Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe |
| Establishment | Agreement |
• Signed | 5 November 1993 |
• Ratified | 8 December 1994 |
| Area | |
• Total | 12,000,000 km2 (4,600,000 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• Estimate | Over 640 million[2] |
| GDP (PPP) | estimate |
• Total | $1.0 trillion[3] |
Website www | |
TheCommon Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community inAfrica with twenty-one member states stretching fromTunisia toEswatini. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed afree trade area in 2000 (Djibouti,Egypt,Kenya,Madagascar,Malawi,Mauritius,Sudan,Zambia andZimbabwe), withRwanda andBurundi joining the FTA in 2004, theComoros andLibya in 2006,Seychelles in 2009,Uganda in 2012[4] andTunisia in 2018.
COMESA is one of the pillars of theAfrican Economic Community.
In 2008, COMESA agreed to anexpanded free-trade zone including members of two other African trade blocs, theEast African Community (EAC) and theSouthern Africa Development Community (SADC). COMESA is also considering a common visa scheme to boost tourism.[5]
| Country | Joined |
|---|---|
| Horn of Africa countries | |
 Djibouti | 21 Dec 1981 |
 Eritrea | 1994 |
 Ethiopia | 21 Dec 1981 |
 Somalia | 21 Dec 1981 (PTA) / 19 Jul 2018 (COMESA)[6] |
| North African countries | |
 Egypt | 6 Jan 1999 |
 Libya | 3 Jun 2005[n 1] |
 Sudan | 21 Dec 1981 |
 Tunisia | 18 Jul 2018[6] |
| Indian Ocean | |
 Comoros | 21 Dec 1981 |
 Madagascar | " |
 Mauritius | " |
 Seychelles | 2001 |
| African Great Lakes | |
 Burundi | 21 Dec 1981 |
 Kenya | " |
 Malawi | " |
 Rwanda | " |
 Uganda | " |
| Southern Africa | |
 Eswatini | 21 Dec 1981[n 2] |
| Zambia | " |
 Zimbabwe | " |
| Central Africa | |
 Democratic Republic of the Congo | 21 Dec 1981[n 3] |
| Country | Left |
|---|---|
 Lesotho | 1997 |
 Mozambique | 1997 |
 Tanzania | 2 Sep 2000 |
 Namibia | 2 May 2004 |
 Angola | 2007 [n 4] |
According to the treaties, the following organs have decision-making power:
In the event that a member State's court is reviewing the application or interpretation of the Treaty, it may request the Courts' opinion on the matter.If the national court is a court from which there is no appeal or remedy, then court is required to refer the question to the COMESA court. The national remedies must be exhausted before a person can bring a matter to the COMESA CJ. The COMESA Court has jurisdiction over suits brought by COMESA employees and third parties against COMESA or its institutions. It also may act as an arbitrary tribunal on any matter arising from a contract to which COMESA or any of its institutions is a party. Further the Court can adjudicate any dispute between member States who agree to bring the dispute before it.Unlike the Statute of the International Court, the treaty does not state the sources of law to be applied by the Court. The Treaty and any COMESA issued legal instruments, will make the initial law to be applied, but municipal law and international law may also be determined applicable by the Court.
While the jurisdiction of the COMESA Court provides multiple avenues for the creation of standard interpretation of the Treaty, there is no specific provision of an avenue for the settlement of disputes between the institutions of the Common Market. The Court is not given the power to interpret the statutes of the other COMESA institutions. Finally, the Treaty does not specify that the Court will have jurisdiction over human rights issues within the context of Community
Due to its varying jurisdictions of the Court, the Eighth Meeting of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys General recommended to the Council of Ministers and the Authority that the Treaty be amended to provide for two divisions in the Court, the Court of First Instance and the Appellate Division. The proposal was adopted and the Court was expanded in June 2005 with the appointment of seven judges in the Court of First Instance and five judges in the Appellate Division. The work of the Court was then suspended until the Appellate Division judges were appointed and the Rules of Court for the Appellate Division were drawn up and adopted. During this reformation of the Court, the previously fully independent Court was made subject to the review of any proposed Rules of Court by the Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General. The Court was established under the 1994 Treaty, the first set of judges was not appointed until 1998.
Unlike other African regional courts, the COMESA Court continues to receive cases. However, due to lack of funds the Court is unable to hear all its cases at certain times. Funding is only done for one session of the Court per year, these has contributed greatly to piling of cases. The backlog of cases will most certainly increase with the current growth in trade disputes in the region.[8]
The following lower policy organs make recommendations to the above:
Other COMESA institutions created to promote development and regional integration are:
TheUnited Nations Economic Commission for Africa provided an interim Secretariat for the Preferential Trade Area from December 1981 (signing of the Lusaka treaty) until December 1982 (first meeting of the PTA). UNECA Secretary GeneralAdebayo Adedeji was the interim Secretary General of the PTA during this time. UNECA official Bax Nomvete would go on to serve as PTA Secretary General.[9]
Source:[10]
| No. | Image | Name | Country | Took office | Left office |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretary General of the Preferential Trade Area | |||||
| 1 | Semyano Kiingi | Uganda | 1983 | 1984 | |
| 2 | Bax Dale Nomvete |  United Nations | 1984 | 1990 | |
| 3 |  | Bingu Wa Mutharika | Malawi | 1991 | 1994 |
| Secretary General of the Common Market | |||||
| – | | Bingu Wa Mutharika | Malawi | 1994 | 1997 |
| 4 | .jpg) | Erastus J. O. Mwencha | Kenya | 1998 | 2008 |
| 5 | .jpg) | Sindiso Ngwenya | Zimbabwe | 2008 | 2018 |
| 6 | .jpg) | Chileshe Kapwepwe | Zambia | 2018 | Incumbent |
| African Economic Community | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pillar regional blocs (REC) | Area (km²) | Population | GDP (PPP)($US) | Member states | |
| (millions) | (per capita) | ||||
| EAC | 5,449,717 | 343,328,958 | 737,420 | 2,149 | 8 |
| ECOWAS/CEDEAO | 5,112,903 | 349,154,000 | 1,322,452 | 3,788 | 15 |
| IGAD | 5,233,604 | 294,197,387 | 225,049 | 1,197 | 7 |
| AMU/UMA 4 | 6,046,441 | 106,919,526 | 1,299,173 | 12,628 | 5 |
| ECCAS/CEEAC | 6,667,421 | 218,261,591 | 175,928 | 1,451 | 11 |
| SADC | 9,882,959 | 394,845,175 | 737,392 | 3,152 | 15 |
| COMESA | 12,873,957 | 406,102,471 | 735,599 | 1,811 | 20 |
| CEN-SAD 4 | 14,680,111 | 29 | |||
| TotalAEC | 29,910,442 | 853,520,010 | 2,053,706 | 2,406 | 54 |
| Other regional blocs | Area (km²) | Population | GDP (PPP)($US) | Member states | |
| (millions) | (per capita) | ||||
| WAMZ 1 | 1,602,991 | 264,456,910 | 1,551,516 | 5,867 | 6 |
| SACU 1 | 2,693,418 | 51,055,878 | 541,433 | 10,605 | 5 |
| CEMAC 2 | 3,020,142 | 34,970,529 | 85,136 | 2,435 | 6 |
| UEMOA 1 | 3,505,375 | 80,865,222 | 101,640 | 1,257 | 8 |
| UMA 2 4 | 5,782,140 | 84,185,073 | 491,276 | 5,836 | 5 |
| GAFTA 3 4 | 5,876,960 | 1,662,596 | 6,355 | 3,822 | 5 |
| AES | 2,780,159 | 71,374,000 | 179,347 | 3 | |
During 2004. Sources:The World Factbook 2005, IMF WEO Database. Smallest value among the blocs compared. Largest value among the blocs compared. 1: Economic bloc inside a pillar REC. 2: Proposed for pillar REC, but objecting participation. 3: Non-African members of GAFTA are excluded from figures. 4: The area 446,550 km2 used forMorocco excludes all disputed territories, while 710,850 km2 would include the Moroccan-claimed and partially-controlled parts ofWestern Sahara (claimed as theSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic by thePolisario Front). Morocco also claimsCeuta andMelilla, making up about 22.8 km2 (8.8 sq mi) more claimed territory. | |||||
