Online Reporter
Prosper Ndlovu
FOR Zimbabwe, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa is more than a regional grouping of 21 countries — it is a gateway to a market of more than 640 million people, a platform for expanding exports and investment, and an important building bloc in Africa’s quest for economic self-sufficiency.
This will significantly come into sharp focus next month when Zimbabwe hosts the Heads of States and Government Summit in Harare and assumes the chairmanship of COMESA.
The move places the country at the centre of efforts to deepen regional integration at a time when geopolitical tensions, shifting trade policies and repeated disruptions to global supply chains are forcing countries to rethink their economic dependencies.
COMESA itself describes its overarching strategy in simple but ambitious terms: “economic prosperity through regional integration.” With 21 member states, more than 640 million people, and commanding almost two thirds of the continent’s geographic area with a Gross Domestic Product of about US$1 trillion, the bloc represents a substantial market for trade, investment and production.
For Zimbabwe, the chairmanship comes at an important juncture — not simply as a diplomatic honour, but as an opportunity to push issues that are central to the country’s industrialisation and export-led growth agenda.
So, what exactly is COMESA?
Established in 1994 to replace the Preferential Trade Area created in 1981, COMESA was conceived as a means of overcoming the limitations faced by individual African economies by creating a larger, integrated economic and trading space.
Its agenda extends beyond removing tariffs. It encompasses trade facilitation, investment, infrastructure and connectivity, productive integration, agriculture, digital transformation and social development.
Over three decades, the bloc has developed institutions and mechanisms designed to make cross-border commerce easier, including the COMESA Free Trade Area, simplified trading arrangements for small-scale traders and automated customs systems.
According to COMESA, the regional integration programmes have also contributed to the removal of many non-tariff barriers that hinder trade.
For Zimbabwean businesses, the significance is straightforward — a larger market means greater opportunities to produce, sell, invest and scale. Although membership is open to African states within the geographical area covered by COMESA, a country seeking to join must go through the procedures provided for under the COMESA Treaty and duly accept the obligations associated with membership.
Membership, however, should not be viewed simply as joining another organisation. But countries join because they see value in participating in a larger regional market and in collectively addressing constraints that are difficult to tackle individually.
Why does COMESA matter to Zimbabwe?
Zimbabwe has long identified regional integration, export diversification, value addition and industrialisation as important pillars of economic transformation.
COMESA provides a ready-made regional platform through which these ambitions can be pursued. Instead of viewing Zimbabwe’s market as being confined to its domestic population, manufacturers, farmers, miners and service providers can look at the wider COMESA market as part of their potential customer base.
This is particularly important for a country seeking to increase exports and move away from dependence on the export of unprocessed commodities. The opportunity lies in developing regional value chains — linking Zimbabwean raw materials, manufacturers and producers with suppliers and markets across the region.
For example, agricultural production can feed agro-processing industries, minerals can support downstream manufacturing, while Zimbabwe’s services sector can tap into a much wider regional customer base.
This is where the concept of economic prosperity through regional integration becomes more than a slogan. It means using the combined strength of neighbouring economies to create production, investment and employment opportunities that may be difficult to achieve individually.
What has COMESA achieved?
One of the bloc’s most significant milestones has been the creation of its Free Trade Area, which has progressively reduced tariff barriers among participating member states.
Intra-regional trade has grown substantially since the FTA came into effect, while COMESA has also developed institutions dealing with trade finance, insurance, competition and investment.
The bloc’s achievements also extend into trade facilitation, with initiatives such as the Simplified Trade Regime aimed at assisting small-scale traders and the automation of border processes through systems such as ASYCUDA.
But perhaps the most important achievement is institutional. COMESA has helped establish the foundations upon which a larger African market can be built. That role has become even more important with the emergence of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), to which Zimbabwe is a signatory.
COMESA and AfCFTA: From regional markets to one African market
COMESA is one of the regional building blocks of AfCFTA. The regional bloc’s experience in trade liberalisation, customs cooperation and trade facilitation gives its member states a foundation from which to participate in the continental market.
In April this year, COMESA adopted its 2026–2030 Medium-Term Strategic Plan alongside a dedicated strategy for implementing AfCFTA. The plan places emphasis on consolidating the regional market, improving infrastructure and connectivity, strengthening productive integration and promoting inclusive participation.
For Zimbabwe, this means COMESA membership can potentially serve as a stepping stone from a regional market into the much larger continental market. The challenge now is implementation.
It is no longer enough for regional governments to sign agreements. Businesses must be able to move goods across borders efficiently, access finance, understand rules of origin, overcome non-tariff barriers and compete on price and quality.
Why the timing matters
Zimbabwe’s assumption of the chairmanship comes against a backdrop of profound changes in global trade. Geopolitical conflicts, shipping disruptions, trade-policy shifts and other shocks have exposed the vulnerabilities of long global supply chains. For Africa, this presents both a challenge and an opportunity.
The lesson is not that African countries should turn their backs on the global economy. Rather, they need to become more resilient by strengthening what they can produce and trade among themselves. This is where COMESA can play a strategic role.
If one country has agricultural capacity, another has minerals, another has manufacturing capabilities and another has energy or technological expertise, regional integration can connect those strengths into productive value chains.
Instead of exporting raw materials and importing finished products from outside the continent, COMESA countries can increasingly process, manufacture and trade within the region.
How technology could change the game?
The next phase of integration will also depend heavily on technology. Digital customs systems, electronic certificates of origin, interoperable payment platforms, cargo tracking and digital trade can reduce the time and cost of doing business across borders.
COMESA is already moving in this direction, with digital trade facilitation and customs modernisation emerging as key priorities, including the expansion of its Electronic Certificate of Origin. For Zimbabwe, embracing these systems could make regional markets more accessible to both large companies and small businesses.
Technology can also help address one of the biggest barriers to African trade — the high cost and complexity of moving goods across borders.
Peter Tanyanyiwa