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             Accord by 25 African Nations Would Link 3 Trade Blocs

   by Reuters

   Representatives from 25 African nations signed an initial agreement
   Wednesday to create a free-trade zone linking three economic blocs that
   would unite 57 percent of the continent's population.

   The deal would combine the Common Market for Eastern and Southern
   Africa (COMESA), the South African Development Community (SADC) and the
   East African Community (EAC).

   It requires negotiations and ratification by national parliaments,
   Egyptian Industry and Trade Minister Mounir Fakhry Abdel Nour said in
   comments to state news agency MENA.

   The alliance would bring together more than 60 percent of the
   continent's gross domestic product, valued at $1.2 trillion, Egyptian
   President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi said on the last day of a weeklong
   conference in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

   "What we are doing today represents an important and decisive point in
   the history of African economic integration," he said in a televised
   address before the signing ceremony.

   World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim told the conference that the
   agreement "could be an important milestone for the economic future for
   the continent," according to a prepared speech on the World Bank's
   website.
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   [1]http://www.voanews.com/content/accord-african-nations-link-three-tra
   de-blocs/2816124.html

References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/accord-african-nations-link-three-trade-blocs/2816124.html