Kenya is set to expand its trade dealings beyond the East African Community by exploiting the opportunities created by the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite that is set to be implemented in March 2023.  The tripartite trade agreement was mooted 7 years ago but stalled pending ratification from some member states. Kenya is among the 11 member states who have ratified the agreement, with South Africa, Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania and Mauritius yet to ratify the trade deal.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, East African Community and South African Development Community tripartite is a three-regional economic community organization that consists of 29 member countries.  The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) Agreement is a major milestone in Africa’s efforts to overcome the challenges of small, fragmented markets that result into numerous taxes and rules that end up crippling the intra-African trade as a result of overlapping Regional Economic Communities. The tripartite consolidates the COMESA, EAC and SADC into a free-flowing trade area of USD 1.3 Trillion market from approximately 740 million consumers across the 29 countries hence representing 56% of Africa’s GDP.

The tripartite main objective is to accelerate economic integration and achieving sustainable economic development which leads to poverty reduction and improvement of quality of life of the people in the Eastern and Southern African Region.

The general objectives of the tripartite as outlined in article 4 of the agreement are:

1. To promote economic and social development of the Region.
2. To create a large single market with free movement of goods and services to promote intra-regional trade.
3. To enhance the regional and continental integration processes.
4. To build a strong Tripartite Free Trade Area for the benefit of the people of the Region.

Once the mandate is fully realized, the tripartite member states shall:

1. Progressively eliminate tariffs and Non-Tariff Barriers to trade in goods
2. Liberalise trade in services
3. Cooperate on customs matters and implementation of trade facilitation measures.
4. Establish and promote cooperation in all trade-related areas among tripartite member states.
5. Establish and maintain an institutional framework for implementation and administration of the Tripartite Free Trade Area.

The COMESA-EAC-SADC agreement will open doors for Kenya’s export products penetration in the 560 million people Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa market and the 379 million people South African Development Community market hence greatly impacting our nation’s economic development and increasing the establishment of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) which will in turn impact on the economic wellbeing of women and youth in Kenya.