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Community of Sahel–Saharan States

تجمع دول الساحل والصحراء
Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens
Comunidade dos Estados Sahelo-Saarianos
Emblem of the Community of Sahel–Saharan States
Emblem
     Founding members      Countries joining later
     Founding members      Countries joining later
Headquarters Libya Tripoli
Official languages
Type Trade bloc
Membership 29 member states
Leaders
• Secretary General
Brigi Rafini (acting)
Establishment
• Agreement signed
4 February 1998
Area
• Total
14,300,000 km2 (5,500,000 sq mi)
GDP (PPP) estimate
• Total
$1,350.7 billion (2014)
• Per capita
$1,363.8 (2014)
Website
https://archive.uneca.org/oria/pages/cen-sad-community-sahel-saharan-states


The Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD; Arabic: تجمع دول الساحل والصحراء; French: Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens; Portuguese: Comunidade dos Estados Sahelo-Saarianos) aims to create a free trade area within a region of Africa. There are questions with regard to whether its level of economic integration qualifies it under the enabling clause of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).

The annual ordinary session of the Conference of Heads of State and Government convenes in different Member State capitals on a rotational basis. An extraordinary session may be called upon the request of any Member State.

Establishment

CEN-SAD was established in February 1998 by six countries, but since then its membership has grown to 29. 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/CEDEAO), ECCAS and COMESA and other trade blocs more advanced in their integration.

2005 summit

At the summit of 1–2 June 2005 in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso), the heads of state decided to create a "high authority for water, agriculture and seeds" in order to allow member countries to develop their agriculture through better control of water resources and seed selection. On the other hand, the summit to decide to study the construction of a railway line connecting Libya, Chad, Niger, with ramps to Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal, to facilitate exchanges and to open up the CEN-SAD space. Blaise Compaoré, president of Burkina Faso, succeeded Malian President Amadou Toumani Touré as current president of CEN-SAD.

2007 summit

The African leaders sought to reconcile differences between neighbours Chad and Sudan over the Darfur conflict and boost Somalia's embattled Transitional Federal Government at a regional summit in Libya on June 3, 2007.

2008 summit

The 10th Summit of Heads of State of the Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD) met on June 28, 2008 in Cotonou on June 18. Its theme was Rural Development and Food Security in the CEN-SAD area. Beninese President Yayi Boni has been elected current President of CEN-SAD for a one-year term.

2013 summit

In January 2013, the Community of Sahel–Saharan States will meet in N'Djamena, Chad. A commentator said "Morocco will likely continue its steps to take command of the organization".

CEN-SAD Games

Beginning in 2009, CEN-SAD member states will take part in planned periodic international sporting and cultural festivals, known as the Community of Sahel–Saharan States Games (Jeux de la Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens). The first CEN-SAD Games were held in Niamey, Niger from 4–14 February 2009. Thirteen nations competed in Under-20 sports (athletics, basketball, judo, football, handball, table tennis and traditional wrestling) and six fields of cultural competition (song, traditional creation and inspiration dancing, painting, sculpture and photography). The second CEN-SAD Games was scheduled to take place in the Chadian capitol of N’Djamena in February 2011.

List of members

Member state Joined Area
(km2)
Population GDP (PPP) ($US) Notes
(all states are also members of the
United Nations and of the African Union)
(inh.) (date) (millions) (per capita)
 Benin 2002 114,763 10,008,749 2013 census 29,918 2,552 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Burkina Faso 1998– 274,200 14,017,262 2006 census 45,339 792 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Cape Verde 2009– 4,033 543,767 2019 est. 4,323 3,651 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO
 Central African Republic 1999– 622,984 4,666,368 2019 est. 4,262 823 also member of ECCAS/CEEAC and CEMAC
 Chad 1998– 1,284,000 13,670,084 2015 est. 30,000 2,428 also member of ECCAS/CEEAC and CEMAC
 Comoros 2007– 1,861 850,688 2018 est. 2,446 2,799 also member of SADC and COMESA
 Djibouti 2000– 23,200 also member of IGAD and COMESA
 Egypt 2001– 1,010,408 also member of COMESA, candidate to AMU/UMA
 Eritrea 1999– 117,600 also member of IGAD and COMESA
 Gambia 2000– 10,689 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 Ghana 2005– 239,567 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 Guinea 2007– 245,857 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 Guinea-Bissau 2004– 36,125 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Côte d'Ivoire 2004– 322,463 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Kenya 2007– 580,367 also member of IGAD, EAC and COMESA
 Liberia 2004– 111,369 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 Libya 1998– 1,759,541 6,871,287 2019 est. also member of AMU/UMA and COMESA
 Mali 1998– 1,240,192 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Mauritania 2007– 1,030,000 also member of AMU/UMA
 Morocco 2001– 446,550
or 710,850
also member of AMU/UMA
 Niger 1998– 1,267,000 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Nigeria 2001– 923,769 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 São Tomé and Príncipe 2007– 1,001 also member of ECCAS/CEEAC
 Senegal 2000– 196,712 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Sierra Leone 2005– 71,740 7,092,113 2015 census 12,177 1,608 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
 Somalia 2001– 637,657 also member of IGAD and COMESA
 Sudan 1998– 1,886,068
(2,505,813 before 2011)
41,592,539
30,894,000
2020 est.
2009 est.
177,678 4,232 also member of IGAD and COMESA
 Togo 2002– 56,785 also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
 Tunisia 2001– 163,610 11,722,038 2019 census 159,707 3,713 also member of AMU/UMA and COMESA
Total (29 members) 14,680,111
or 14,944,411
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