Twenty six African leaders signed a Tripartite Free Trade Agreement to create a common market in half of the continent on June 10, 2015, according to Ethiopian News Agency.

The agreement was signed among Southern African Development Community (SADC), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) in Egypt.

The agreement simplifies the movement of goods among 625 million people. Member countries in these three trade blocs have a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than 1 trillion USD.

The Tripartite Free Trade Area countries constitute 58 percent of the continent’s total GDP.

The agreement awaits the ratification of signatory countries to become operational, it was learnt.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency