The tripartite agreement seeks to merge SADC, the EAC and Comesa into one free trade area.  If successfully implemented, this would create a duty free area from South Africa, up the east coast of Africa, all the way to Egypt.

It seems likely that this agreement will be signed in June 2015.  This does not mean that the agreement will be implemented at that point, but it be the start of the really important business of looking at how the duties will be phased down between the 26 countries that make up the new tripartite free trade area.  It is also the beginning of negotiating a continent-wide free trade area across the whole of Africa.

Why is this important?

Because a free trade area across these 26 countries will have a serious impact on investment decisions in the various member countries, given that goods originating in the a member state will receive preferential treatment. “At present, only Tanzania straddles all three areas, making it a very powerful hub for investment” On the other hand there are challenges.  The 3 trade blocs each have their own existing trade agreements, with each agreement having significantly different rules of origin (the rules that determine if you are actually entitled to a duty preference or not), so merging these trade blocs is certainly not without challenge. However, there does appear to a strong commitment to making this work and Africa really needs to trade with its sister states to develop economic muscle.  The devil, as always, will be in the detail though, so we will have to watch closely to see how this unfolds.