COMESA-SADC-EAC Tripartite Free Trade Area: Challenges and Prospects

Abstract

In Sharm ElShiekh, Egypt, 2015 the member states of three major African regional economic blocks: COMESA, SADC and EAC, agreed on establishing a common free trade area called COMESA-EAC-SADC TFTA. Establishing this FTA is considered as a major step towards Africa‟s Continental trade integration which is one of the main objectives of Africa 2063 Agenda. This paper aims to identify the potential impacts of the integration among those three RECs on various aspects of economic growth including welfare, trade, price effects, and government‟s revenues and to identify the main obstacles and challenges that may hinder achieving these potentials.