Community of Sahel–Saharan States

Free trade area in Africa

Community of Sahel–Saharan States

تجمع دول الساحل والصحراء
Communauté des Etats Sahélo-Sahariens
Comunidade dos Estados Sahelo-Saarianos

Emblem

Founding members

Countries joining later

Headquarters|  Tripoli
Official languages|

* Arabic
* English
* French
* Portuguese

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)[1]

• Per capita

| $1,363.8 (2014)[2]
Drives on| Right (except Kenya)

Website
https://archive.uneca.org/oria/pages/cen-sad-community-sahel-saharan-states

Politics of the African Union

Institutions

* Casablanca Group
* Union of African States
* Organisation of African Unity
* African Economic Community
* African Unification Front

Executive

* Assembly
* Chairperson
* Commission
* Chairperson
* Conference and Events
* Peace & Sec.
* Pol. Affairs
* Infra. & Energy
* Soc. Affairs
* HR, Sci., & Tech.
* Trade and Industry
* Rural Econ. & Agri.
* Economic
* Legal Counsel
* Executive Council
* Rep. Committee

Legislature

* Pan-African Parliament
* President (Fortune Z. Charumbira)
* Bureau
* Secretariat
* List of members
* Permanent Committees
* Rural Econ., Agri., Resources, Environ.
* Monetary & Financial
* Trade, Customs, & Immigration
* Cooperation, IR, & Conflict
* Transport, Industry, Communication,
Energy, Science, & Tech.
* Health, Labour, & Social
* Educ., Culture, Tourism, & HR
* Gender, Family, Youth, Disabilities
* Justice & Rights
* Rules, Privileges, & Discipline
* Committee on Audit and Public Accounts (CAPA)

Judiciary

* Sirte Declaration
* Constitutive Act of the AU
* Law
* Charter on Rights
* Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights
* Justice and Human Rights
* Court of Justice
* Court on Human and Peoples' Rights
* List of judges

Advisory bodies

* Peace and Security Council
* Economic, Social and Cultural Council
* Specialised Technical Committees
* Rural Econ., Agri.
* Monetary & Financial
* Trade, Customs, and Immigration
* Industry, Sci. & Tech., Energy, Natural Resources, & Environment
* Transport, Comm., Tourism
* Health, Labor, Social
* Edu., Culture, & Human Resources

Financial bodies

* AEC Pillars (Abuja Treaty)
* CEN-SAD
* COMESA
* EAC
* ECCAS/CEEAC
* CEMAC
* ECOWAS/CEDEAO
* UEMOA
* WAMZ
* IGAD
* SADC
* SACU
* AMU/UMA
* African Central Bank
* African Monetary Union
* African Investment Bank
* New Partnership for Africa's Development
* African Peer Review Mechanism
* New Partnership for Africa's Development E-School Program

Decentralised bodies

* Agencies of the AU
* Africa CDC
* African Space Agency

Related topics

* Enlargement
* Foreign relations
* TerrAfrica partnership

* Other countries

* v
* t
* e

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.[3]

## Establishment

[edit]

CEN-SAD was established in February 1998 by six countries, but since then its membership has grown to 25. 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.

#### Executive Secretaries

[edit]

No. | Image  | Name  | Country  | Took office  | Left office

|
|
|
|
|

1  |  | Mohamed Al-Madani Al-Azhari[4] |  Libya | 1998  | 2013
2  |

| Ibrahim Sani Abani  |  Niger | 2013[5] | 2021
3  |  | Brigi Rafini |  Niger | 2021[6] | 2023
4  |  | Ado Elhadji Abou  |  Niger | 2023[7] | Incumbent

## 2005 summit

[edit]

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

[edit]

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.[8]

## 2008 summit

[edit]

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.[9]

## 2013 summit

[edit]

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".[10]

## CEN-SAD Games

[edit]

Parts of this article (those related to pre-2010 deadlines) need to be updated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (November 2010)

|

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).[11] 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.[12]

## List of members

[edit]

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[13] | 29,918[14] | 2,552[14] | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Burkina Faso | 1998–  | 274,200  | 14,017,262 | 2006 census | 45,339[15] | 792[15] | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Central African Republic | 1999–  | 622,984  | 4,666,368 | 2019 est.[16] | 4,262[17] | 823[17] | also member of ECCAS/CEEAC and CEMAC
Chad | 1998–  | 1,284,000  | 13,670,084 | 2015 est.[18] | 30,000[19] | 2,428[19] | also member of ECCAS/CEEAC and CEMAC
Comoros | 2007–[20] | 1,861  | 850,688 | 2018 est. | 2,446[21] | 2,799[21] | 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–[20] | 245,857  |  |  |  |  | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
Guinea-Bissau | 2004–  | 36,125  |  |  |  |  | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Ivory Coast | 2004–  | 322,463  |  |  |  |  | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Libya | 1998–  | 1,759,541  | 6,871,287 | 2019 est.[16] |  |  | also member of AMU/UMA and COMESA
Mali | 1998–  | 1,240,192  |  |  |  |  | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Mauritania | 2007–[20] | 1,030,000  |  |  |  |  | also member of AMU/UMA
Morocco[22] | 2001–  | 446,550
or 710,850[22] |  |  |  |  | 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
Senegal | 2000–  | 196,712  |  |  |  |  | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and UEMOA
Sierra Leone | 2005–  | 71,740  | 7,092,113 | 2015 census[23] | 12,177[24] | 1,608[24] | also member of ECOWAS/CEDEAO and WAMZ
Somalia | 2001–  | 637,657  |  |  |  |  | also member of IGAD and COMESA
Sudan[25] | 1998–  | 1,886,068
(2,505,813 before 2011[25]) | 41,592,539
30,894,000 | 2020 est.[26]
2009 est.[27] | 177,678[28] | 4,232[29] | 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[30] | 159,707[31] | 3,713[31] | also member of AMU/UMA and COMESA
Total (25 members)  | 14,680,111
or 14,944,411[22] |  |  |  |  |

## See also

[edit]

* BSIC Group

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "CEN-SAD - The Community of Sahel-Saharan States | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa". archive.uneca.org. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
2. ^ "CEN-SAD - The Community of Sahel-Saharan States | United Nations Economic Commission for Africa". archive.uneca.org. Retrieved 2024-04-09.
3. ^ Union, African. "CEN SAD". au.int/en. Retrieved 10 April 2024.
4. ^ "Relations with the Community of Sahelo-Saharan States (CEN-SAD) and draft agreement between UNESCO and this organization". unesdoc.unesco.org. 13 March 2003. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
5. ^ "Communiqué Final de la session extraordinaire de la Conférence des Chefs d'Etat et/ou de Gouvernement de la CEN-SAD à N'Djamena (Tchad), le 16 février 2013-African Union - Peace and Security Department". Union africaine, Département Paix et Sécurité (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-19.
6. ^ "CEN-SAD: l'ancien PM Brigi Rafini va remplacer Ibrahim Sani Abani au secrétariat exécutif". ActuNiger (in French). 2021-12-12. Retrieved 2024-12-19.
7. ^ Atafa, Ahmadou (2023-06-23). "M. Ado Elhadj ABOU remplace Brigi RAFINI aux commandes du secrétariat exécutif de la CEN-SAD". Aïr Info (in French). Retrieved 2024-12-19.
8. ^ https://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070603/wl_africa_afp/censadsummit;_ylt=A9G_RyW9HmNG7YMAMhhvaA8F [dead link‍]
9. ^ Bénin : Yayi Boni élu président en exercice de la CEN-SAD, Pana, 18 juin 2008
10. ^ Nickels, Benjamin P. (January 3, 2013). "Morocco's Engagement with the Sahel Community". SADA. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
11. ^ La première édition des Jeux de la CEN-SAD en février 2009 au Niger.[permanent dead link‍] APANEWS, 17 June 2008.
12. ^ Maiden CEN-SAD Games ends in glory in Niamey. [permanent dead link‍] APA News. 2009-02-15.
13. ^ "BENIN en Chiffres" [BENIN in Figures]. INSAE (in French). Archived from the original on 17 December 2015. Retrieved 17 December 2015.
14. ^ a b "World Economic Outlook Database, October 2018". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
15. ^ a b "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects - Burkina Faso". International Monetary Fund.
16. ^ a b United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. "World Population prospects – Population division". population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). Retrieved 9 November 2019.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2019). "Overall total population – World Population Prospects" (xlsx). population.un.org (custom data acquired via website). Retrieved 9 November 2019.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
17. ^ a b "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects - Central African Republic". International Monetary Fund. 2019. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
18. ^ Projections demographiques 2009–2050 Tome 1: Niveau national (PDF) (Report) (in French). INSEED. July 2014. p. 7\. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
19. ^ a b "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects - Chad". International Monetary Fund. 2018. Retrieved 24 August 2020.
20. ^ a b c "CEN-SAD celebrates 13th anniversary". Panapress. 4 February 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
21. ^ a b "Report for Selected Countries and Subjects - Comoros". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 17 April 2012.
22. ^ a b c Morocco: the area 446,550 km2 (172,410 sq mi) excludes all disputed territories, while 710,850 km2 (274,460 sq mi) includes the Moroccan-claimed and partially-controlled parts of Western Sahara (claimed as the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic by the Polisario Front). Morocco also claims Ceuta and Melilla, making up about 22.8 km2 (8.8 sq mi) more claimed territory.
23. ^ "Sierra Leone 2015 Population and Housing Census National Analytical Report" (PDF). Statistics Sierra Leone. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
24. ^ a b "Sierra Leone". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 18 April 2013.
25. ^ a b Membership of Sudan in CEN-SAD was formerly including South Sudan, but only before its independence from Sudan on 9 July 2011; after its independence, South Sudan did not join CEN-SAD, but joined EAC instead, while also choosing to remain in IGAD.
26. ^ "Sudan - Official population clock". cbs.gov.sd. Archived from the original on 2019-11-13. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
27. ^ (disputed) "Discontent over Sudan census". News24. Cape Town. Agence France-Presse. 21 May 2009. Retrieved 8 July 2011.
28. ^ "Sudan - PPP GDP". International Monetary Fund.
29. ^ "Sudan - PPP per capita". International Monetary Fund.
30. ^ "Population". National Institute of Statistics-Tunisia. Archived from the original on 28 November 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
31. ^ a b "Tunisia". International Monetary Fund.

## External links

[edit]

* Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD)
* CEN-SAD website
* CEN-SAD at the African Union website.

* v
* t
* e

Community of Sahel–Saharan States (CEN-SAD)

* Benin
* Burkina Faso
* Cape Verde
* Central African Republic
* Chad
* Comoros
* Djibouti
* Egypt
* Eritrea
* Gambia
* Ghana
* Guinea
* Guinea-Bissau
* Ivory Coast
* Kenya
* Liberia
* Libya
* Mali
* Mauritania
* Morocco
* Niger
* Nigeria
* São Tomé and Príncipe
* Senegal
* Sierra Leone
* Somalia
* Sudan
* Togo
* Tunisia

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