COMESA TO MEET WEDNESDAY

LEADERS from eastern and southern Africa meet in Mauritius on Wednesday to discuss ambitious plans for economic integration which are threatened by conflicts across the continent. Heads of state from members of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa will hold a two-day summit to discuss plans to create a free trade zone from Egypt in the north to Namibia in the south. But almost half of Comesa’s 21 members are either at war with each other or are suffering internal conflicts which seem likely to undermine plans to eliminate internal trade tariffs by October 31.