Tunisia will sign the Comesa Treaty in October enroute to joining the regional economic community as its 20th member state.
BY BUSINESS REPORTER
Tunisian Prime Minister and head of government, Yousef Achahed told a visiting Comesa delegation that his country was ready to conclude the negotiations early in readiness for the accession to the Comesa Treaty.
The Comesa delegation, led by the secretary-general Sindiso Ngwenya, is in Tunisia this week to discuss with the government the steps towards joining the largest regional bloc in Africa.
The mission is in fulfilment of the decision of the 19th Comesa Heads of State summit held in Madagascar in October 2016 that mandated the bureau of the council of ministers to enter into negotiations with the Republic of Tunisia on the terms and conditions of accession to the Comesa Treaty.
Ngwenya told Achahed that membership of Tunisia would be a single undertaking.
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“What this means is that it will require Tunisia to simultaneously join Comesa financial, technical, semi-autonomous and autonomous institutions,” he said.
Comesa has nine institutions, two specialised agencies and a judicial arm, all located in different member states.
As part of the preparations for launching the negotiations between the bureau of council and Tunisia, the Comesa delegation held separate discussions with the minister of Trade and Industry, Zeid Ladhari and minister of Development Investment and International Co-operation, Mohamed Fadhel Abdelkefi.
Article 4 of the Treaty provides that the Comesa Authority may admit a country which is an immediate neighbour of a Member States upon fulfilling conditions set forth including acceptance of the Comesa aims and objectives, compliance with the general undertakings and fundamental principles and wishing to co-operate with Comesa.