Africa set to form largest free-trade bloc

Africa's largest free-trade zone is to be created, covering 26 countries in an area from Cape Town in the south to Cairo in the north.
The deal, to be signed in Egypt, is intended to ease the movement of goods across member countries which represent more than half the continent's GDP, BBC Online said.
Since the end of colonial rule, governments have been discussing ways to boost intra-African trade.
However, poor state of roads, railways and airlines have made it difficult.
hree existing trade blocs - the Southern African Development Community (Sadc); the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) - are to to be united into a single new zone.
The pact - The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) - will then be officially unveiled at the upcoming summit of the African Union this weekend in South Africa.