Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
If you guessed that they are in Africa, you would be correct.
Significantly, these countries agreed this Wednesday to create a free trade zone that joins together three smaller regional trading blocs already in existence: the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).
The new African Economic Community will cover approximately two-thirds of Africa’s land mass, extending from the tip of Cape Town all the way to the mouth of the Nile River.
The BBC notes:
Many of the leaders and representatives consider the new pact a way of giving Africa a greater voice on the world stage.
"By coming together, the member states will have a strong voice in advancing our interests on the international scene," said South African President Kgalema Motlanthe.
Meanwhile, President Museveni said that it was a step in the right direction for a continent that suffered unfairly when it came to global trade.
President Motlanthe also called for developing countries to have positions within global institutions.
""While Africa and other developing countries had marginal influence over the decisions that have brought the international finance systems to the brink of collapse, unjustifiably, African countries will bear the brunt," he said.
"Development countries must be included in the governance of all international financing institutions to mitigate adverse effects on them," Mr Motlanthe added.
Hopefully the new AEC will give the developing nations of Africa greater economic and political clout on the world stage. What is most interesting about this trading bloc to me is that many of the parties to this agreement have been involved in an ongoing war in Central Africa that has killed millions of people and affected even greater numbers of refugees. Perhaps stronger economic ties will convince the leaders of the countries involved in this exceedingly complex conflict that peace within the region is a better long term investment than perpetual war.
Love it or hate it, free trade seems here to stay. Perhaps this agreement will even yield some more equitable results than its precursors in the developed world.