Multinational - COMESA Support towards Regional Pharmaceutical Sector Development

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a regional economic community comprising twenty-one member countries, namely: Burundi, Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The total population of the bloc is estimated at over 583 million people and its gross domestic product is estimated at USD 805 billion. The objective of COMESA was to create a large economic and trading bloc capable of overcoming the obstacles faced by individual states. The region's main strategy is to achieve economic prosperity through regional integration and to provide its members with the following benefits: (a) a larger, harmonized and more competitive market, (b) increased industrial productivity and competitiveness, (c) increased agricultural production and security, (d) harmonized monetary, banking and financial policies, (e) rational exploitation of natural resources, and (f) reliable transportation and communication infrastructure. To promote industrialization and structural transformation in the region, COMESA has developed a Regional Industrialization Policy (2015-2030) and an Industrial Strategy (2017-2026). The Industrial Strategy, anchored on the Industrial Policy, focuses on nine key priority areas, including pharmaceuticals. These focus areas will have the greatest impact on sustainable and inclusive economic growth to achieve structural transformation of the economies of COMESA member states. COMESA is also a member of the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA), which is an African Free Trade Agreement between COMESA-SADC-and the EAC. The TFTA promotes integration based on the developmental approach to regional integration, which rests on three pillars: market integration, industrial development and infrastructure development. Climate finance is not attributed to this project.