Community of Sahel-Saharan States
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تجمع دول الساحل والصحراء
Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens Comunidade dos Estados Sahelo-Saarianos Community of Sahel-Saharan States |
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|---|---|
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| Headquarters |  Tripoli, Libya |
| Official languages | |
| Type | Trade bloc |
| Membership | 28 member states |
| Leaders | |
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• Secretary General
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Ibrahim Sani Abani (acting) |
| Establishment | |
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• Agreement signed
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4 February 1998 |
The Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD; French: Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens; Arabic: تجمع دول الساحل والصحراء; Portuguese: Comunidade dos Estados Sahelo-Saarianos) aims to create a free trade area within Africa. There are questions with regard to whether its level of economic integration qualifies it under the Enabling clause.
CEN-SAD was established in February 1998 by six countries, but since then its membership has grown to 27. One of its main goals is to achieve economic unity through the implementation of the free movement of people and goods in order to make the area occupied by member states a free trade area. At the international level, CEN-SAD gained observer status at the UN General Assembly in 2001 and concluded association and cooperation accords with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and with UN specialized agencies and institutions such as UNDP, WHO, UNESCO, FAO, and the Permanent Interstate Committee for drought control in the Sahel.
All CEN-SAD member countries are also participating in other African economic unions, that have the aim to create a common African Economic Community. The envisioned Free Trade Area of CEN-SAD would be hard to practically implement, because it is overlapping with the envisioned customs unions of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), ECCAS and COMESA and other trade blocs more advanced in their integration.
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