ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the performance of one of Africa’s most important regional trade agreements, namely the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) from its inception onwards, and through a discussion of the impact of the formation of the continental free trade area on its probable future performance. It observes that although such an agreement has led to increasing trade both among and vis-à-vis non-members, such benefits are highly skewed with some countries delineating very positive gross domestic product growth rates while others have hardly progressed. In addition, trade facilitation has been a crucial feature of regional integration in COMESA. Many of the member countries have indeed improved their trade facilitation index. However, regarding welfare indicators, it can be observed that there is growing and widespread poverty in the COMESA region, especially among the rural communities.
