Trust Freddy
ZIMBABWE’S assumption of the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has placed the country at the centre of efforts to deepen regional industrialisation, beneficiation and intra-African trade, Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet Dr Martin Rushwaya has said.
President Mnangagwa assumed leadership of the 21-member regional economic bloc on Thursday, taking over from Kenyan President William Ruto, with Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema assuming the vice chairmanship.
Zimbabwe’s leadership of COMESA, Dr Rushwaya said, provided an opportunity to advance an economic agenda based on local value addition, industrialisation and stronger regional value chains.
In a congratulatory message to President Mnangagwa, Dr Rushwaya said the decisions reached at the 25th COMESA Summit in Harare were closely aligned with Zimbabwe’s economic policies.
“On behalf of the two Vice Presidents, advisers and staff in the Office of the President and Cabinet (OPC), I heartily extend our profound congratulations to you, Your Excellency, on your historic assumption of the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, COMESA,” said Dr Rushwaya.
“Today’s COMESA Summit was like no other. Far-reaching decisions and commitments were made, the majority of which spoke eloquently to Zimbabwe’s own policies. All that put our nation in the driving seat for a new Africa which is founded on self-belief and a heritage-based economy with beneficiation, industrialisation and intra-African trade at its core.”
The COMESA chairmanship comes as the regional bloc places greater emphasis on building regional value chains, attracting investment and accelerating inclusive industrialisation.
The bloc’s official agenda for 2026-2030 includes deeper regional integration, industrialisation and value addition, expanded intra-COMESA trade, infrastructure connectivity and digital transformation.
The summit was held under the theme “One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA”.
Dr Rushwaya said the OPC would support the President’s call for the continent’s natural resources to be processed locally rather than exported largely in raw form.
He said the approach would help African countries build industries, generate employment and retain more value from their natural resources.
“OPC stands firmly behind the President’s push for local value addition and beneficiation of Africa’s natural resources to industrialise economies and create jobs,” added Dr Rushwaya.
“Additionally, we lend our weight as your bureaucrats to pushing for greater intra-COMESA and intra-Africa trade founded on sub-regional value chains.”
COMESA has identified critical minerals, agriculture and manufacturing as areas where regional value chains can contribute to industrialisation under its new Medium-Term Strategic Plan.
Dr Rushwaya said the OPC would also provide administrative support to ensure that Zimbabwe’s tenure produced practical outcomes.
“As the Office of the President and Cabinet, we pledge our unyielding support, administrative excellence and alignment with your goals to ensure a highly successful, transformative and impactful chairmanship of the COMESA Authority,” he said.
“Guided by our foreign policy position that Zimbabwe is a ‘friend to all and enemy to none’ and that Zimbabwe is open for business, we look forward to a successful tenure anchored on multilateralism, dialogue and mutual respect.”
The chairmanship, he said, would be anchored in multilateralism, dialogue and mutual respect.
The summit also marked the launch of the COMESA Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2026-2030, setting out the bloc’s priorities for the next five years.
COMESA’s Authority is the bloc’s supreme policy-making organ, comprising the Heads of State and Government of its member countries.
It provides the overall policy direction and control of the organisation’s executive functions, with decisions normally taken by consensus.
