Sviluppo e nuovi mercati regionali : il caso del COMESA in Africa.

Since the end of the Cold War era in the 1990s and the subsequent consolidation of the new capitalism or financial and technological globalization, regionalism has become an important development strategy for both the developing and the developed countries: a need to build stronger markets to compete on a global level. The study examines the role of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa ( COMESA) in the promotion of socio-economic and political development. The nature of competition under the new globalization has forced states and corporate actors to form larger units, both for economic efficiency and for the augmentation of the necessary political power needed to bargain effectively over the rules and institutions that govern the world new economy. COMESA's prospects for promoting development in Eastern and Southern Africa look promising : in the transportation sector it has made progress in liberalizing its skies and harmonizing its roads and rail cross-border transportation procedures. In the telecommunication sector, COMESA has built a regional telecommunication network and all these measures are likely to boost COMESA's regional trading activities and therefore lead to increased economic growth. However, most COMESA states are breaking away from repressive political regimes and new mechanisms of moderating political conflict in Africa, such as a re-vitalized African Union and the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) are likely to ensure political stability and to foster socio-economic development pursuits.