Online Reporter
Gibson Mhaka
Zimpapers Politics Hub
THE assumption of the Chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa by President Mnangagwa will place Zimbabwe at the centre of one of the continent’s most important regional economic integration platforms.
The 25th Comesa Heads of State and Government Summit, to be held in Harare from October 19 to 22, presents Zimbabwe with an opportunity to help shape the regional conversation on trade, investment, industrialisation and economic integration at a time when African countries are increasingly looking beyond national borders for markets, investment and value chains.
For Zimbabweans, however, the importance of the Chairmanship will not be measured by the prestige of occupying the chair.
It will be measured by what the opportunity can deliver — more markets for local products, greater investment, stronger regional value chains, improved trade facilitation and ultimately more economic activity at home.
That is where the COMESA Chairmanship intersects with the economic thrust of the Second Republic.
President Mnangagwa’s emphasis on economic engagement, value addition, industrialisation and positioning Zimbabwe as an investment destination will now have a wider regional platform.
The significance is that Zimbabwe will not simply be hosting a summit. It will be assuming a leadership role in an organisation whose 21 member states collectively represent a market of more than 640 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of about US$1 trillion, according to COMESA.
That is a market Zimbabwe cannot afford to ignore.
The COMESA Authority is the organisation’s highest policy-making body, bringing together Heads of State and Government to provide strategic direction and oversee the achievement of the bloc’s objectives.
The Chairmanship therefore does not mean that Zimbabwe will control the economies of other member states.
Its importance lies in providing a platform from which Zimbabwe can help build consensus, maintain momentum on agreed programmes and place issues of particular importance to regional economic integration firmly on the agenda.
And there is already evidence that the regional agenda is moving in areas that dovetail with Zimbabwe’s economic ambitions.
The 25th Summit will be held under the theme, “One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA.”
The agenda includes industrialisation, regional value chains in critical minerals, agriculture and manufacturing, investment and the broader state of regional integration. The summit is also expected to consider COMESA’s Medium-Term Strategic Plan for 2026-2030.
For Zimbabwe, this is significant.
The country has been pursuing value addition and beneficiation of its mineral resources while seeking to expand manufacturing, modernise agriculture and increase exports.
A regional market of this scale provides an important platform for those efforts.
But market access alone is not enough.
Zimbabwean businesses must have the capacity to produce competitively, meet standards, secure finance and move goods efficiently across borders.
This is why trade facilitation is likely to be one of the most practical areas in which the chairmanship can make a difference.
COMESA is already implementing digital systems designed to make cross-border trade easier.
The electronic Certificate of Origin is currently being implemented by five member states — Eswatini, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe while the Electronic Single Window is being implemented in 15 member states, including Zimbabwe.
The Single Window allows traders to submit documentation through one digital platform instead of dealing separately with multiple government agencies.
These may sound like technical reforms, but their impact is ultimately felt by people running businesses.
For a manufacturer in Bulawayo, a tobacco farmer in Mashonaland, a horticultural producer in Manicaland or a small enterprise in Masvingo, regional integration becomes meaningful when products can cross borders more efficiently, paperwork is reduced, transaction costs fall and new customers become accessible.
That is where the COMESA Chairmanship can move beyond diplomatic protocol.
It can provide Zimbabwe with a platform to advocate for a regional trading environment in which the farmer, manufacturer, miner, tourism operator and small businessperson can participate more effectively.
Industrialisation presents another major opportunity.
The movement of African economies from exporting raw materials towards processing and manufacturing is increasingly central to the continent’s development agenda.
For Zimbabwe, with its considerable mineral and agricultural resources, regional value chains can help create opportunities to process raw materials locally and participate in production networks extending across borders.
The same applies to critical minerals.
Rather than looking at mineral resources solely as commodities to be exported, Zimbabwe can use regional partnerships to attract investment, technology, skills and markets that support greater value addition.
This fits squarely into the broader economic direction being pursued by the Second Republic. The COMESA platform can therefore complement domestic efforts to build an economy that produces more, processes more and exports more.
The opportunities are not confined to goods.
Tourism, transport, financial services, digital commerce and other services are becoming increasingly important components of regional economies.
For Zimbabwe, this creates room to broaden the meaning of exports.
A Zimbabwean company does not necessarily have to put a physical product on a truck crossing the border to benefit from regional integration.
A tourism operator can attract visitors from across Comesa. A technology company can provide digital services to businesses in another member state.
A transport operator can participate in regional supply chains.
A financial technology company can develop solutions for cross-border transactions.
For young Zimbabweans, the wider significance lies in the possibility of a larger economic space in which businesses can grow beyond the limitations of the domestic market.
The Chairmanship will therefore provide an opportunity to complement Zimbabwe’s ongoing domestic economic reforms by opening new avenues for local businesses to access regional markets, attract investment and expand production.
Regional integration works best when it is supported by a strong domestic productive base, which is why the Government’s continued focus on infrastructure development, energy security, access to finance, skills development and efficient logistics remains important.
In this regard, Zimbabwe’s tenure at the helm of Comesa can reinforce the work already being undertaken under the Second Republic to strengthen the productive sector, enhance competitiveness and position local businesses to take full advantage of the opportunities presented by a market of more than 600 million people.
The regional platform can therefore serve as a catalyst for the Government’s broader economic transformation agenda, complementing efforts under Vision 2030 to build a modern, industrialised and export-oriented economy.
In this respect, the COMESA Chairmanship comes at an interesting point in Zimbabwe’s economic trajectory.
The Second Republic has consistently placed investment, industrialisation, infrastructure development, value addition and export growth at the centre of its economic agenda.
The regional platform now provides an opportunity to connect those priorities to a much larger market.
The hosting of the Comesa Summit itself adds another dimension.
Harare will bring together Heads of State and Government, ministers, business leaders, investors, development partners and other stakeholders.
The summit therefore provides Zimbabwe with an opportunity to showcase its investment, tourism and trade potential while positioning the country as a gateway into the wider region.
COMESA itself says hosting the summit offers Zimbabwe an opportunity to strengthen its position as a strategic gateway for regional trade and investment, boost intra-COMESA trade and cross-border investment, and showcase its opportunities.
The hosting agreement signed between Comesa and Zimbabwe on September 14 marked another milestone in preparations for the summit, with the organisation saying preparations were progressing well.
But perhaps the bigger story is what the summit says about Zimbabwe’s place in the region.
The country is increasingly positioning itself not as an economy standing on the margins of regional developments, but as an active participant in shaping the continent’s economic future.
President Mnangagwa’s Chairmanship will provide another platform for that engagement.
Zimbabwe’s experience in pushing for investment, infrastructure development, value addition and economic integration will now be brought into a regional conversation involving 21 countries.
The attraction of this approach is its practical nature.
A regional market is useful only when businesses can access it.
An investment policy is meaningful when it translates into factories, mines, farms, tourism facilities and services.
Industrialisation becomes significant when it creates value and employment.
And regional integration becomes tangible when borders cease to be barriers to legitimate economic activity.
That is why the coming year should be viewed as an opportunity to turn the language of regional integration into practical economic outcomes.
Can more Zimbabwean products find markets across Comesa? Can local manufacturers become part of regional value chains?
Can farmers access larger markets? Can tourism operators attract more regional visitors?
Can digital systems reduce the cost and time involved in cross-border trade?
Can new investment partnerships generate productive enterprises and employment?
These are the measures that will ultimately give substance to Zimbabwe’s chairmanship.
The opportunity is therefore much bigger than the ceremonial handover of a regional chair.
It is an opportunity to connect Zimbabwe’s domestic economic ambitions with a regional market of more than 640 million people.
It is also an opportunity for Zimbabwe to contribute to the implementation of COMESA’s broader integration agenda at a time when the bloc is pursuing digital trade facilitation, industrialisation, investment and regional value chains.
For President Mnangagwa, the Chairmanship provides a regional platform to advance dialogue around these priorities.
For Zimbabwe, it provides an opportunity to strengthen its economic links with neighbouring and strategic markets.
And for ordinary Zimbabweans, the real measure will be tangible — more products finding regional markets, more investment coming into productive sectors, stronger businesses and new opportunities for employment.
That is where the Comesa Chairmanship moves beyond regional protocol and becomes an economic opportunity for Zimbabwe.
