Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA) is a diverse Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) group including Indian Ocean islands (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius and Seychelles), countries of the Horn of Africa (Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Sudan) and some countries of southern Africa (Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe). The original ESA group, at the start of the EPA negotiating process, also included the East African Community (EAC) states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda. However, in 2007 they agreed on a separate interim EPA (iEPA) based around the newly formed EAC customs union.

At the end of 2007, six states in the ESA region (Comoros, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles, Zambia and Zimbabwe) concluded an interim EPA with the EU. The agreement was signed by four countries (Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe) in August 2009 in Mauritius and has been provisionally applied since 14 May 2012. In January 2013, the European Parliament gave its consent to the agreement. This deal is a stepping stone towards a full EPA and remains open to other countries willing to join at a later stage.

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