Debra Matabvu
Senior Reporter
COMMON Market for Eastern and Southern Africa member States should strengthen strategic partnerships, remove barriers to regional trade and invest in value addition to drive economic growth, create jobs and improve living standards across the region, President Mnangagwa has said.
Addressing the 19th COMESA Business Forum and Exhibition in Harare yesterday, the President said the forum should come up with practical strategies to increase intra-regional trade, strengthen economic cooperation and accelerate development.
Discussions and proposals emerging from the forum, he said, should inform resolutions to be adopted at the 25th COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit, scheduled for Harare tomorrow.
The Business Forum was co-convened by the COMESA Business Council, ZimTrade and the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC), in partnership with COMESA and the Government of Zimbabwe, ahead of the Heads of State and Government Summit.
“I challenge the Business Forum, therefore, to hold frank and bold dialogue that will help scale up regional trade and investment, identify practical solutions and forge partnerships that allow businesses to produce, invest, trade and create jobs across our common market,” President Mnangagwa said.
“All our efforts must ultimately result in a prosperous and higher quality of life for our peoples.
“Strategies for achieving set objectives, along with the critical enablers required, should form part of the recommendations to the Summit.”
President Mnangagwa said solutions should focus on overcoming constraints that hinder regional trade while identifying opportunities to expand production, investment and commerce across the region.
“Intra-Comesa trade and investment remain significantly low. This gap presents both a challenge, as well as an opportunity,” he added.
“The challenge is to develop solutions that overcome the constraints which inhibit regional commerce, while opportunities lie in developing networks that expand production, investment and trade across our member States and beyond.
“Linkages and synergies championed by fora such as this one, should enable the movement of goods, services and capital across our borders efficiently, predictably and competitively.
“I, therefore, encourage stakeholders here gathered to capture solutions to issues relating to rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, lengthy customs procedures and other costs of doing business.”
The President said Governments and the private sector had a shared responsibility to build a common market that serves member States, the African continent and beyond.
He urged the private sector to forge partnerships, strengthen networks and build synergies that would create an integrated market with a shared future.
President Mnangagwa also called on business leaders and entrepreneurs in agriculture, energy, mining and other sectors to harness opportunities across COMESA member States.
“I further challenge delegates to proffer the requisite steps for Comesa to produce, process and trade more within the bloc.
“The need for increased investments in agriculture, critical minerals, energy resources, industrialisation and human capital development, leveraging on our youthful population, cannot be over-emphasised.
“A strong foundation upon which we build competitive industries and integrated regional value chains must be achieved through our collective efforts.”
The President further encouraged the private sector to add value to and beneficiate its products, saying Zimbabwe had already embarked on value addition in sectors such as agriculture and mining.
He said these efforts would promote job creation, economic empowerment and skills development, particularly among young people and women.
“Private sectors are urged to move decisively from the export of commodities towards value addition, beneficiation and manufacturing,” the President said.
“On its part, Zimbabwe in December 2022 made a decision to restrict exports of unprocessed lithium ore, in alignment with our determination to accelerate industrialisation and retain value at source.
“Similar openings exist in agro-processing, leather, cotton to clothing, pharmaceuticals, battery materials and clean energy technologies.
“I invite investors, manufacturers, finance institutions, partners and captains of industries within COMESA to join us on this exciting journey as we work to transform the numerous gaps within our region into productive enterprises, jobs, empowerment chances and skills especially for the youth.”
President Mnangagwa also called on COMESA to boost productive capacity, remove tariff and non-tariff barriers and harmonise trade procedures to unlock wider markets and investment opportunities under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He said investments should not be developed as isolated national projects but should connect economies through mutually beneficial cross-border investments and regional value chains.
Zimbabwe was ready to partner other member states in agriculture and agro-processing, mining and mineral beneficiation, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure, among other sectors, he said.
“Principally, we are keen to explore investments and partnerships that extend beyond our specific national market to expand economic enablers while also connecting suppliers, producers and consumers across COMESA,” he said.
The event was attended by COMESA secretary-general Ms Chileshe Kapwepwe, COMESA Business Council president Mr Mucai Kunyiha, senior Government officials and captains of industry.
