(Khalda Elyas) Economic blocs today have become a necessity for entering markets and trade exchange among countries. They have emerged as a bid to liberate trades

among member states which are faced with restrictions on their respective relations as a result of economic crisis due to wars in those countries.
Economic bloc is known as expressing a certain degree of economic integration among a group of economically, historically, geographically, culturally and socially harmonious countries, sharing economic interests, in the service of mutual interests, increase intra-international relations to achieve maximum benefit to arrive at highest degree of economic prosperity for the peoples of those countries. Blocs have become a remarkable characteristic in shaping world economic system.
Some polices in some countries have culminated in dragging some nations into international debts and negatively impact  free trade and commodity flows, especially exports of developing countries. As result, blocs have increasingly begun to surface as regional arrangements aimed at achieving full liberation of intra-trade among them.
As for Africa, regional arrangement and blocs were forged, notably the establishment of common market of East and South Africa COMESA, to which Sudan is a member and a founding country.  COMESA was established after the conclusion of preferential trade area for East and South African countries (PTA). The agreement went into effect 1982.
The member States of COMESA are: Burundi, the Comoros, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Sudan, Swaziland, Seychelles, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

COMESA Certificate of Origin
The certificate is applied for goods traded within the COMESA region.

A company shall be registered for export on a COMESA certificate if goods qualify under any of the five criteria described in Rule 2 of the COMESA protocol on Rules of Origin.  The criteria are as follows: The goods should be wholly produced in a member state; or
The goods should be produced in the member states and the CIF value of any foreign materials should not exceed 61% of the total cost of all materials used in their production; or
The goods should be produced in the member states and attain a value added of at least 45% of the ex-factory cost of the goods; or
The goods should be produced in the member states and should be classifiable under a tariff heading other than the tariff heading of the non-originating materials used in their production;
Egypt, Kenya, Sudan, Mauritius, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Malawi, Madagascar, Rwanda and Burundi exempt goods with COMESA certificate of origin from customs, taxation and other fees. While Eritrea, Uganda and Comoros apply 10 percent cut in fees levied on imports from COMESA member states, 70 percent in Ethiopia. While, COMESA imports are not granted any form of exemption in countries like Congo DRC, Seychelles   and Swaziland, which has been granted an opportunity to join the membership of COMESA based on studies underway, as it is currently bound by the membership of SACU.
The COMESA member states agreed to liberate common custom trade to encourage cooperation and facilitate the transfer of goods, with exemptions on imports from member states.
Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of COMESA said This trade does not include informal cross border trade which is estimated to be thirty percent of total trade within the COMESA region. Although there has been a seven fold increase in trade among member States, this still accounts for about 10 percent of trade with the rest of the world.
With respect to trade in goods, the volume of trade has increased from United States Dollars 3.2 Billion in 2000 to 22.4 Billion United States Dollars in 2014, according to him. He added that this trade does not include informal cross border trade which is estimated to be thirty percent of total trade within the COMESA region. Although there has been a seven fold increase in trade among member States, this still accounts for about 10 percent of trade with the rest of the world.
"The decision at the first COMESA-EAC-SADC Summit to establish the Grand Free Trade Area from Cape to Cairo marked a turning point in regional integration in Africa," Ngwenya remarked. 
The Tripartite process is now a catalyst for the establishment of the Continental Free Trade Area by 2017.
The Tripartite FTA consisting of 26 countries, which is almost half the membership of the African Union has a combined population and Gross Domestic Product of 625 million people and US$1. 3 trillion respectively will constitute the single largest market, he said, adding that the Tripartite FTA will provide a basis for the structural transformation of the economies through Industrialization and value addition.
Ngwenya further called upon member states to implement policies and strategies adopted by COMESA at national and regional levels to achieve economic transformation through moving human resources from economic activities contributive to value added to economic activities with high value added.
Exports in COMESA states  totaled (506,987) dollars in 2016, while imports amounts to (807,621) million dollars, Kenya's volume trade exchange with COMESA free area accounted for 242 million dollars.
Trade exchange between Sudan and Ethiopia reached 400 million dollars as Ethiopia demonstrated keenness to build economic ties with Sudan through boosting trade exchange, noting that Sudan will benefit from Renaissance Dam power generation and Ethiopia wishes to make maximum use of the strategic location of Port Sudan by resolving disputes along border regions with Sudan.
Experts that Sudan and Ethiopia are nearing full economic integration as manifested in the exchange of visits by the two presidents during the year, a sign of growing ties between the two countries under current regional conditions related to the issues of the Horn of Africa.
 Secretary General Ngwenya had noted that Sudan was an active Member of COMESA and had steadily implemented various programs on regional integration. Among them the COMESA Free Trade Area, the Regional Payment and Settlement Scheme (REPSS) and the Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa.
Sudan has hosted various workshops during 2017 on economic integration proposals and programs and activating laws and regulations to combat sinking, monopolization, in addition to seating COMESA Justice Court in Khartoum aimed at settling disputes among member states.
State Minister for Justice Tahani Tor Al-Dabba affirmed, during her addressing the workshop that Sudan is stepping steadily in activating the legal frameworks in regard to trade among COMESA states and the executive regulations through working on endorsing the acts that push forward those frameworks and commercial cooperation among the states of the continent.