GOOBJOOG NEWS | LUSAKA: Federal Government of Somalia Prime Minister Salah Ahmed Jama is in Lusaka, Zambia for the 22nd Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit which kicks off today.
The focus of this year’s summit according to the organizers is economic integration and trade promotion in the region and across the African continent.
The summit comes a day after the COMESA Business Forum which was held on Wednesday in Lusaka with over 500 regional and international businesses participating.
The forum, which was organized by the COMESA Business Council provided a multi-sectoral platform for the promotion of quality products and services that are in high demand in regional and international markets with a focus on the COMESA market.
Zambia’s Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Chipoka Mulenga while opening the forum described it as most ideal for enabling the private sector to be more effective drivers of industrialization, economic diversification, trade and investment in the region.
He stressed the need for collaboration to drive shared economic prosperity whereby governments provide a conducive business environment supported by a strong policy framework for the private sector to thrive.
“We need to ensure that our policies and strategies are coherent, consistent and complementary to support the overall goal of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own people,” he said.
Public-Private Sector partnership
In her statement, Secretary General of COMESA, Chileshe Kapwepwe stressed the need for Public-Private Sector partnership in increase intra-COMESA Trade to spur the economic growth which has declined from 5.9% in 2021 to 4.8% in 2022.
“We are happy to leverage existing COMESA institutions such as the COMESA Business Council (CBC) to increase intra-COMESA Trade through private sector development,” she said.
Secretary General of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Mr. Wamkele Mene on his part said with the global Covid-19 pandemic now practically behind, it is time for African countries to reset, socially and economically.
“I am, therefore, pleased that this Business Forum provides an opportunity not only to explore ways to accelerate the recovery of COMESA Member States from Covid 19 through green investment, value addition and tourism, but also the implementation of the AfCFTA,” he added.
The president of the CBC Marday Venkatasamy said the CBC has embarked on the implementation and operation of the Regional Digital Retail Payments Scheme for MSMEs. This initiative will directly respond to the intra-trade deficit in the COMESA region.
“The COVID-19 pandemic taught us that digitalization increases the scale, scope, and speed of trade,” he noted. “It allows firms to bring new products and services to a larger number of digitally connected customers across the globe.”
