The Tripartite Free Trade Area still struggles to enter into force, despite its member countries signed the Tripartite Free Trade Area Agreement (TFTA) seven years ago. The TFTA was launched in 2015 with the aim to combine into an enlarged Free Trade Area (FTA) three Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in Africa, namely: the East African Community (EAC), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern Africa Development Cooperation (SADC). A Tripartite Task Force made up of the Chief Executives of the 3 RECs serves as the Secretariat of the Tripartite Policy organs and is responsible to coordinate the implementation of the Tripartite Free Trade Area work programme. This body rotates annually among the three RECs. On 16th July, 2022 the Chairmanship was taken up by COMESA.