Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa

Imagine you have a group of friends who all live in different houses. Each house has different things, like toys and games. One day, you and your friends decide that it would be fun if you could all share your toys and games with each other. So, you create a big playground where everyone can come together and share what they have.

Now, imagine this on a bigger scale, but instead of toys and games, it's all the goods and services that countries in Eastern and Southern Africa produce. This is what a common market is all about. It's a group of countries that agree to share their goods and services with each other without any barriers, such as taxes or restrictions.

The common market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a group of 21 African countries that have agreed to work together to increase trade and economic growth. This means that goods and services can easily move between these countries, which can help businesses to grow and create more jobs.

For example, if a farmer in Zambia has extra maize, but there's not enough demand in their own country, they can sell it to a buyer in another COMESA country, like Ethiopia, without any added costs or restrictions. This helps the farmer to make more money and ensures that the buyer has enough food to sell in their own country.

COMESA also works to set standards and regulations for businesses and products to make sure that everything is safe and of good quality. This helps to build trust between countries and encourages more trade and investment.

Overall, COMESA is like a big playground for countries in Eastern and Southern Africa to share what they have and work together to build a stronger economy for everyone.