Once established it is envisaged that the Grand Free Trade Area (GFTA) will be the largest bloc on the African continent serving as a launching pad for the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) in 2017.

Being launched in mid-December 2014 the GFTA, which is also known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area of COMESA-EAC-SADC, links 26 African countries. With a combined population of 625 million people and a Gross Domestic Product of US$ 1.2 trillion, these states account for half of the membership of the African Union and 58 percent of the continent’s GDP.

During a ministerial meeting of the Tripartite Sectoral Committee of Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in Bujumbura, Burundi in October, it was agreed that the Grand Free Trade Area (FTA) would be launched at the Tripartite Summit of Heads of State or Government to be held in Egypt in mid-December 2014.

Sindiso Ngwenya, secretary general of COMESA and chairperson of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force, says, “The Tripartite FTA offers significant opportunities for business and investment within the Tripartite and will act as a magnet for attracting foreign direct investment into the Tripartite region. The business community, in particular, will benefit from an improved and harmonized trade regime which reduces the cost of doing business as a result of elimination of overlapping trade regimes due to multiple memberships.”

“The launching of the Tripartite FTA is the first phase of implementing a developmental regional integration strategy that places high priority on infrastructure development, industrialization, intra-Africa trade and the free movement of business persons.”