26 African nations sign deal on common market bloc

Leaders from 26 African countries signed a potentially historic free trade deal in Egypt Wednesday to create a common market spanning half the continent.

The deal integrates three existing trade blocs whose countries have a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than $1 trillion (885 billion euros) and eases the movement of goods in an area home to 625 million people.

The pact on the Tripartite Free Trade Area was signed by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn of Ethiopia and Mohamed Bilal, vice president of Tanzania, at a summit in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.