23 October 2008
Kampala — The three economic sub-regions, Common Market of Southern and East Africa (COMESA), Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) and the East Africa Community (EAC) Wednesday in Kampala, Uganda, agreed to implement a trade accords harmonisation programme.
According to a press note from the Angolan Embassy in Tanzania that reached ANGOP, the intention was expressed at the end of the first tripartite summit of heads of State and Government of the member states who converged on the need for free movement of businessmen and implementation of joint inter-regional infrastructures.
The document also reads that the meeting defended the creation of institutional mechanisms on the basis of which African communities' economic structures can foster cooperation among themselves.
COMESA, SADC and EAC are thus recommended to start working to merge the three communities into a single one, in order to expedite the process of establishment of the African Economic Community.
To this end, the summit instructed the three economic blocs to develop a roadmap towards the institutionalisation of the desired "union" that will be discussed at the next meeting, set for within two years.
On the other hand, the note adds that the tripartite summit approved the creation of a free trade area covering the member states and their partners, aiming at the creation of a single customs union.
It also recommended the development of a joint programme for the creation of a single and uninterrupted airspace and infrastructures of information and communication technologies as well as regional transportation plans and investment in the field of energy.
Opening the meeting, the president of Uganda, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, stressed that integration was a strategic tool in fighting poverty and underdevelopment, recognising that the lack of policy facilitated colonial penetration and occupation.
The host president noted that the major markets boost development by providing exchange of goods and people, jobs and strengthening of friendship.
Angolan head of State, José Eduardo dos Santos, was represented at the summit by the minister of Industry, Joaquim David.
The three regional economic communities group South Africa, Egypt, Angola, Libya, Sudan, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana, Uganda, DR Congo, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, Namibia and Madagascar.
Part of the organisation are also Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Rwanda, Malawi, Lesotho, Eritrea, Burundi, Djibouti and Comoros, totalling an estimated population of over 500 million inhabitants.
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