ARLAC’s membership was previously drawn from English-speaking African Countries that ratified the ARLAC agreement. The Constitution of ARLAC opens up membership to all African countries.
The following are the 18 ARLAC member countries: Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Nigeria, Siera Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. These member countries formally ratified the ARLAC Agreement (superseded by the Constitution of ARLAC).
The Figure below illustrates the geographic positioning of the 18 member countries of ARLAC:
Other potential members include Eritrea, The Gambia, Rwanda, and South Sudan. There are three observers, and these are Mozambique, Seychelles, and Tanzania.
The member countries of ARLAC are divided into four geographic zones as follows:
| ZONE 1 EASTERN | ZONE 2 NORTHERN | ZONE 3 SOUTHERN | ZONE 4 WESTERN |
| Kenya | Ethiopia | Botswana | Ghana |
| Malawi | Sudan | Eswatini | Liberia |
| Somalia | Lesotho | Nigeria | |
| Uganda | Mauritius | Sierra Leone | |
| Zambia | Namibia | ||
| South Africa | |||
| Zimbabwe |
This zoning is used, for example, to elect the Vice Chairpersons of the ARLAC Governing Council and to determine the rotational hosting of ARLAC policy meetings.
