COMESA: a successful venture in regional integration

Abstract

The motivation for the establishment of COMESA has been the recognition that since the independence of the countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, individual country efforts to attain economic recovery and sustainable growth have yielded minimal result. This is partly because production structures have not been modified to suit changing market conditions, with the result that exports of primary commodities continue to dominate the export sector. At the same time, the income generating capacity of the member States have been circumscribed by both internal and external factors, including the non-viable Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) and lack of investment opportunities.