By Samson Ntale in Uganda
Three Sub-Saharan trading blocs have agreed on a memorandum of understanding spelling out their terms of cooperation and integration.
The East African Community (EAC), Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) announced the bold step, when they took the first major step to institutionalise their new-found unity.
A closed ministerial meeting of the trio: that ended late on Monday, agreed that the MoU would be signed by the Chief Executives of the three regional economic blocs within a period of six months.
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In the agreement, the three blocs will commit themselves to the creation of a free trade area, with a combined population of over 527 million people and a GDP of $624 billion.
"Our belief is that greater rapport and understanding between and amongst the three blocs is a more assured way towards realising the Abuja vision," said EAC Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Julius Onen.
"It means we have agreed to pursue the development of common programmes and projects which enables us to effectively and efficiently utilise the available resources to alleviate poverty and improve the quality of life of people in the Eastern and Southern Africa region," Onen added.A Tripartite Taskforce was then formed to spearhead the process of harmonisation. The first meeting took place in Kigali, Rwanda in 2005. The taskforce has since met severaltimes.
A milestone in the making, the MoU defines in very clear terms the roadmap for harmonisation of trade and investment regimes, infrastructure programmes, and cooperation in facilitating free movement of persons. It also sets out the process for dispute resolution. The 26 countries that are members of SADC, Comesa and EAC make up half of the African Union in terms of membership, and just over 58 per cent in terms of contribution to GDP.
The tripartite arrangement between the blocs was established out of the realisation that the three trading blocs were implementing similar programmes in the areas of trade, customs and infrastructure development. "The MoU also has provisions for consultation and exchange of information and expertise, mobilisation of financial resources and sharing of experiences," he added. Consequently, a need arose to harmonise and coordinate these projects and programmes in terms of joint planning and implementation, exchange mechanism that is also set for introduction.
Since the first meeting of the three blocs in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2005, other meetings have been held bi-annually in different countries.
