Dynamic Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 20 territories constitute Eastern Africa:

• Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi – comprise the African Great Lakes region and are members of the East African Community (EAC). Burundi and Rwanda are sometimes considered part of Central Africa.
• Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia – collectively known as the Horn of Africa.
• Mozambique and Madagascar – often considered part of Southern Africa. Madagascar has close cultural ties to Southeast Asia and the islands of the Indian Ocean.
• Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe – often included in Southern Africa, and formerly of the Central African Federation.
• Comoros, Mauritius and Seychelles – small island nations in the Indian Ocean.
• Réunion and Mayotte – French overseas territories also in the Indian Ocean.
• South Sudan – newly independent from Sudan.

Due to colonial territories of the British East Africa Protectorate and German East Africa, the term East Africa is often (especially in the English language ) used to specifically refer to the area now comprising the three countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

However, this has never been the convention in many other languages, where the term generally had a wider, strictly geographic context and therefore typically included Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Sudan.

Egypt and Sudan are also in the northeastern portion of the continent,
but are usually included in Northern Africa.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is a free trade area with twenty member states stretching from Libya to Zimbabwe. COMESA was formed in December 1994, replacing a Preferential Trade Area which had existed since 1981. Nine of the member states formed a free trade area in 2000 (Djibouti, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan, Zambia and Zimbabwe), with Rwanda and Burundi joining the FTA in 2004 and the Comoros and Libya in 2006.

COMESA is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community.

In 2008, COMESA agreed to an expanded free-trade zone including members of two other African trade blocs, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC). Comesa is also considering a common visa scheme to boost tourism.

Current

• Burundi (21 Dec 1981)
• Comoros (21 Dec 1981)
• Democratic Republic of the Congo (21 Dec 1981)
• Djibouti (21 Dec 1981)
• Egypt (6 Jan 1999)
• Eritrea (1994)
• Ethiopia (21 Dec 1981)
• Kenya (21 Dec 1981)
• Libya (3 June 2005, at the 10th COMESA summit)
• Madagascar (21 Dec 1981)
• Malawi (21 Dec 1981)
• Mauritius (21 Dec 1981)
• Rwanda (21 Dec 1981)
• Seychelles (2001)
• South Sudan (2011)
• Sudan (21 Dec 1981)
• Swaziland (21 Dec 1981)
• Uganda (21 Dec 1981)
• Zambia (21 Dec 1981)
• Zimbabwe (21 Dec 1981)

Former

• Lesotho (left in 1997)
• Mozambique (left in 1997)
• Tanzania (left September 2, 2000)
• Namibia (left May 2, 2004)
• Angola (Suspended itself in 2007)

(image: Map of Africa indicating COMESA membership. Dark green = current members, light green = former members)