The
Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (
COMESA) is a
free trade area with twenty member states stretching from
Libya to
Swaziland. 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, the
Comoros and
Libya in 2006, and
Seychelles in 2009.