Africa's first Free Trade Area (FTA) will be launched in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, tomorrow despite a gloomy backdrop of civil conflict, an AIDS crisis and crippling external debt, analysts and officials said yesterday.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa's (COMESA) FTA, mooted 17 years ago, would be the first step towards full regional integration and a common currency by the year 2025, COMESA officials said.

COMESA includes Angola, Burundi, the Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi and Mauritius.