Zvamaida Murwira-Senior Reporter
AFRICA must engage international partners based on sovereign equality, mutual benefit and shared prosperity, rather than dependency and exploitation, as regional integration has become an economic necessity for the continent, outgoing COMESA chairperson and Kenyan President William Ruto said yesterday.
Addressing the COMESA Summit, which ended in Harare yesterday, President Ruto said Africa must determine how it engages with the rest of the world while safeguarding its interests and avoiding undue external influence.
“COMESA’s commitment to African integration is our answer to all of these emerging challenges. Regional integration is no longer a dream we discuss. It is an economic and strategic necessity. We must trade more among ourselves, build resilient regional value chains, and deepen our productive capacity so that we can withstand the next shock and seize the next opportunity.
“The world is redrawing its partnerships, and Africa must decide how it engages. For too long, our engagement with the world has followed one script: we export raw materials, we import finished goods, and we borrow at a premium to pay the difference. That script has run its course.”
President Ruto said the 21-member COMESA bloc needed to speak with one voice when engaging international partners to advance the region’s economic interests.
“COMESA offers the world a different conversation: one market speaking with one voice, rather than 21 markets negotiating alone. We seek a new engagement with our partners, rooted in sovereign equality, built on mutual benefit, and measured by shared prosperity. We do not ask to be treated as special. We ask to be treated as equal.
“To every partner who seeks our minerals, our markets and our young workforce, our offer is clear: invest with us, process with us, build with us. We will be fair in our partnerships, firm in our interests, open in our markets, and reliable in our word.
“Africa does not come asking for a seat at the edge of the table. We come to help set it.”
President Ruto said the summit’s theme, “One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA”, reflected the bloc’s commitment to improving the livelihoods of millions of people across the region.
COMESA had remained resilient despite geopolitical shocks, global economic uncertainty and disruptions to trade and supply chains over the past year.
“The past year tested us. The global economy was uncertain. Trade was disrupted. Supply lines were broken. Yet COMESA did not retreat. We held steady, we stayed together, and we moved forward,” he said.
“The numbers tell the story. Regional growth rose from 5.6 per cent in 2024 to 6.4 per cent in 2025. Inflation fell from 31 percent to 13.2 per cent. Today, member states meet our inflation convergence benchmark of 7 per cent, within the agreed margin of one percentage point either way.
Delegates follow proceedings at the Comesa summit.
“Our fiscal positions are stronger. The average fiscal deficit narrowed to 3.9 per cent of GDP, with the average government debt easing to 52.1 per cent of GDP,” he said.
Exports to the rest of the world had increased by 6 per cent to US$212 billion, while trade among member States had recorded faster growth.
“Exports among ourselves grew faster, rising 10.5 per cent to US$14.7 billion, our highest level between 2020 and 2025. Behind these numbers is a clear lesson.
“When we trade with one another, we grow together. The greatest market for Africa’s goods is Africa,” he said.
COMESA deputy chairperson and Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema called for a shift in mindset, urging member states to mobilise domestic resources to finance development rather than relying primarily on external capital.
Speaking in his maiden address at the summit, President Hichilema said countries should first explore opportunities to raise capital within the region before seeking investment from outside Africa.
“Let’s invest together, let us produce together. When we think of investment, we have a stereotypical mindset that investment must come from Europe, America and Asia.
“We have been taking trips to Brussels looking for capital. When we have good projects in COMESA, I think we can get capital. What we should do first is to get capital from ourselves and then supplement it.
“I think that is the approach we need to take to make COMESA much better at fulfilling the needs of our population,” said President Hichilema.
The region’s youthful population offered opportunities for employment, skills development and business growth, but member States needed to harmonise systems and improve the movement of goods across borders.
“We have a young population, skills, jobs and business opportunities, and our individual economies will grow faster. We are a region of performing wonders with the resources we have.
“But to do that, we should harmonise certain things, our borders; we need one-stop borders, 24/7 borders, with technology single-window capacity; we can watch a truck in Harare; why should we stop the truck? We should let it pass because we are viewing it using technology,” said President Hichilema.
