COMESA: What Bulawayo can benefit

Nqobile Bhebhe Senior Business Reporter

BULAWAYO could use Zimbabwe’s incoming chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) to establish a permanent industrial, investment and export gateway linking the city’s productive capacity to the bloc’s 640 million consumers, economic watches say.

Rather than treating the 12-month Comesa chairmanship as a diplomatic assignment, business leaders and economists say Bulawayo can use the period as an implementation window to connect manufacturers, exporters, financial institutions, investors, logistics operators and regional buyers into one commercially focused ecosystem.

Zimbabwe is set to officially take over the Comesa chairmanship for the 2026-2027 term from Kenya during the 25th Heads of State and Government Summit in Mt Hampden next month.

Comesa has a market size of over 640 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about US$1,2 trillion.

Around US$383 billion in global imports and exports is traded within the bloc.

Leadership of the bloc can give Zimbabwean industries several potential benefits, including a direct platform to push local goods.

The opportunity for the city comes as Bulawayo seeks to rebuild its industrial base, attract investment and strengthen its position as one of Zimbabwe’s major manufacturing and commercial centres.

National Competitiveness Commission (NCC) board chairperson Mrs Patiance Chimuka said Zimbabwe’s leadership of Comesa presented an opportunity to strengthen value-added exports and regional value chains.

“As you would know, our President was recently appointed as Chairperson of COMESA, a 21-member trading bloc.

“I believe this presents a prime opportunity for Zimbabwe to cement itself as a powerhouse for value-added exports in the region, as we continue to build on our milestones while focusing on the critical cornerstones of competitiveness,” said Mrs Chimuka.

She was speaking at the Second Competitiveness Summit in Bulawayo on Wednesday.

The opportunity for the city is to translate that national ambition into a practical export pipeline with clear commercial targets.

Bulawayo businessman and former ZNCC Matabeleland Chapter vice president Mr Louis Herbst said the opportunity extended beyond simply branding the city as an industrial hub.

“I believe Bulawayo has an opportunity to use the COMESA Chairmanship to do something considerably bigger than simply positioning Bulawayo as an industrial hub.

“We should use the Chairmanship as a catalyst to establish a national-to-regional economic architecture connecting Zimbabwean productive capacity to COMESA markets, investment, finance and logistics,” said Mr Herbst.

That architecture could begin with a detailed mapping of Bulawayo’s productive capacity.

Manufacturing, engineering, agro-processing, textiles and garments, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, packaging, mining equipment and other industrial activities could be mapped according to production capacity, standards, financing requirements and export readiness.

The exercise would then identify demand across COMESA markets and match local production with specific regional opportunities.

Economist Mr Leonard Chingoko said the city needed to move quickly from discussions about regional integration to identifying products that could be competitively supplied to specific markets.

“Bulawayo needs to move quickly to translate the COMESA chairmanship into a practical industrial and export programme.

“The city already has an industrial base, business infrastructure and a platform such as the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, so the immediate task is to identify what the city can competitively produce and which COMESA markets can absorb those products,” he said.

Mr Chingoko said the one-year chairmanship was sufficient to make meaningful progress if implementation began immediately.

“One year is sufficient to make significant progress if there is a focused implementation framework. Within that period, Bulawayo can map its export-ready companies, identify priority products and markets, organise buyer-seller meetings and establish partnerships with financial institutions and logistics providers,” he said.

“The objective should be to create an export pipeline that continues operating after Zimbabwe’s COMESA chairmanship ends.”

A major component of the initiative could be the deliberate repositioning of the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) as a COMESA business gateway.

Bulawayo already has an established international trade and exhibition platform, providing an opportunity to bring regional buyers directly into contact with local producers.

“ZITF should be deliberately positioned as a COMESA business gateway, with regional buyers coming to Bulawayo not simply to view products but to negotiate supply contracts, joint ventures and investment partnerships.

“That would give the city’s manufacturers direct access to the regional market,” Mr Chingoko added.

The emphasis would be on transactions rather than conferences.

Targeted buyer missions could be organised around specific sectors, while manufacturers could receive assistance in meeting standards, certification and packaging requirements needed to access regional markets.

Another exonomic analyst, Mr Mahwani Kangausaru, said the opportunity should be treated as an economic rather than purely diplomatic exercise. “Zimbabwe’s presidency of COMESA is not only a diplomatic obligation, but an opportunity for Zimbabwe to leave an economic legacy for Bulawayo and the country.

“Bulawayo’s deep industrial history and existing manufacturing capabilities can place the city in a pragmatic position as a hub for regional industrialisation and exports,” he said.

“One opportunity would be to develop a Comesa Industrial and Export Programme for Bulawayo, bringing together manufacturers, exporters, financial institutions, logistics operators, development-finance institutions, standards and certification agencies, government agencies and regional buyers.”

Mr Kangausaru said the focus should be on products that Bulawayo and surrounding areas could competitively supply to regional markets.

“The focus should be extremely pragmatic: to link Bulawayo’s productive capability with real demand in COMESA markets and to reduce the barriers to firms’ access to those markets.”

A central challenge will be ensuring that companies able to secure regional orders have the financial capacity to fulfil them.

Mr Herbst said finance, markets and logistics should not be treated as separate components of industrial development.

“The financial-services component is where I believe this becomes particularly powerful.

“Industrial development, finance, market access and logistics are often treated separately, when in reality they are components of the same economic transaction.”

He said a manufacturer needed a market, while a buyer required a reliable supplier and the supplier needed working capital.

“A verified regional purchase order could potentially support production or trade finance, with the transaction moving from buyer order to verified supplier, financing, insurance, production, logistics, customs documentation and settlement,” Mr Herbst said.

“This creates the possibility of financing the transaction and underlying cash flow, rather than relying exclusively on conventional collateral-based lending. For SMEs, this could expand access to productive finance where there is demonstrable demand and a credible transaction.”

Mr Kangausaru also said financial institutions would be critical.

“Many enterprises may have the productive capacity but not the operating capital, export finance or financial instruments to service larger regional orders”

“Banks and development financing institutions could therefore establish special facilities for enterprises that participate in the initiative, in particular those who have verified regional purchase orders.”

Such facilities could help manufacturers expand output once regional demand has been established.

Logistics would be equally important, particularly for manufacturers seeking to compete on delivered prices.

Mr Kangausaru said transport and distribution considerations needed to be incorporated from the outset.

“If the cost and reliability of transferring products to regional markets make them uncompetitive, a manufacturer cannot be a successful exporter.

“The program should therefore begin with the involvement of logistics operators and explore possibilities of consolidated cargo, regional distribution agreements, effective rail and road connectivity and predictable freight rates,” he said.

Mr Herbst sees technology as a tool for connecting the various components of the transaction.

“The technology is important, but it is not the proposition itself. The proposition is economic infrastructure enabled by technology.

“The platform would bring together manufacturers, SMEs, exporters, financial institutions, development-finance institutions, insurers, logistics operators, investors and regional buyers within one connected ecosystem.”

Under such a model, an investor could identify structured opportunities while regional buyers could access verified Zimbabwean suppliers.

“An investor should be able to identify commercially structured opportunities across Zimbabwe, from manufacturing and agro-processing to mineral beneficiation, pharmaceuticals, engineering, renewable energy, logistics and technology,” Mr Herbst said.

“Each opportunity should provide the information required to assess the investment—capital requirement, infrastructure, productive capacity, target markets, potential COMESA demand, logistics, incentives, employment impact and foreign-exchange potential.”

The 12-month chairmanship should not be viewed as sufficient time to complete Bulawayo’s industrial transformation.

It is, however, sufficient to establish the systems, relationships and commercial pipeline that can continue after Zimbabwe hands over the COMESA chair.

Mrs Chimuka said Zimbabwe needed to rethink how it positioned itself to take advantage of the regional opportunity.

“As the National Competitiveness Commission, we therefore recognise this moment as an opportunity to reflect on what we must do differently to position Zimbabwe as a more competitive economy,” she said.

For Bulawayo, the period could be used to establish measurable targets, including export-ready companies identified, regional buyers engaged, purchase orders generated, export contracts signed, investment opportunities structured, trade finance deployed, manufacturing capacity activated and jobs created.

Industrialist Mr Nigel Mutemi said a dedicated coordination mechanism would be important.

“Bulawayo should therefore establish a COMESA industrial and export taskforce involving the local authority, manufacturers, banks, development-finance institutions, logistics companies and trade promotion agencies,” he said.

The taskforce could ensure that the different components of the export chain work together rather than operating in isolation.

Mr Herbst cautioned against using the chairmanship to embark on another lengthy policy-development process.

“Importantly, I do not believe the starting point should be another policy-development exercise.

“The policies, strategies, frameworks and regional instruments required to support industrialisation, investment, regional value chains, trade facilitation and financial integration already exist.

“The Chairmanship period is simply not long enough to spend valuable time redrafting policies or revisiting objectives that have already been established,” he said.

Instead, existing frameworks should be converted into commercial outcomes.

“We should use the existing COMESA and Zimbabwean frameworks as stepping stones towards practical economic outcomes. The question is how we take what has already been agreed and convert it into functioning transactions, investment, production, exports and jobs,” Mr Herbst said.

He said Bulawayo could serve as the operational anchor while the economic network extended across the country.

“This is why I see Bulawayo as the physical gateway and co-ordination centre, but not the economic boundary of the programme,” he said.

Mrs Chimuka said competitiveness remained fundamental to Zimbabwe’s ability to compete in regional and global markets.

“Competitiveness is essential in supporting business viability, productivity, and innovation, production of quality and affordable products, thereby allowing industry to compete effectively in the domestic, regional and global market,” she said.

For Bulawayo, that means the COMESA opportunity must ultimately be measured in economic outcomes rather than events.

Mr Kangausaru noted, “The goal should not be the number of conferences held but the number of enterprises that become export ready, new regional buyers acquired, export contracts signed, investment mobilised, output expanded and employment generated.”

The proposed approach would allow Bulawayo to use the chairmanship as a catalyst for an export ecosystem that survives beyond the 12-month term.

Mr Herbst summed up the broader opportunity by shifting the focus from the city’s industrial identity to its role within regional economic integration.

“How do we use Bulawayo’s Comesa opportunity to implement what has already been agreed, connect Zimbabwe’s productive capacity to the regional market and position Zimbabwe as a digitally connected, financially enabled and commercially integrated productive node within the COMESA economy?

“That, in my view, is where the real opportunity lies.”