ABSTRACT
This chapter traces the origins and overall experience of the 19-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), Africa’s largest trading bloc in terms of population, volume of trade, and land area. The chapter is unambiguous in its linkage of regional and continental economic integration to the need to reduce poverty. Poverty continues to be Africa’s number one development challenge, yet COMESA integration impediments persist. They include long-standing reliance on primary exports, multiple integration memberships, the debt burden, infrastructural shortcomings, corruption, as well as the increased specter of terrorism on the African continent. Hopeful signs include the fact that COMESA’s world trade volume has risen considerably over the years – from $42.5 billion in 2001 to $244 billion in 2010. The chapter identifi es the role of mass media in economic integration. It draws useful business implications and advances several recommendations for the way forward, including the need for gender mainstreaming and infrastructure revitalization as preconditions for the success of Africa’s economic integration and growth generally.
