COMESA’s free trade vision faces headwinds as global multilateralism wanes

The journey to the present day COMESA began 60 years ago, catalysed by the collapse of the East African Community. The plan now is a Free Trade Area that covers the EAC and SADC regional blocs while simultaneously working toward a continent wide Free Trade Area. But the impediments to the Common market abound as the world shifts away from multi-lateralism towards plurilaterism