Online Reporter
Business Reporter
Zimbabwe’s assumption of the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa presents a pivotal moment for the country to rebrand itself as a serious trading partner and to drive long-overdue reforms within the bloc, according to a leading African business leader.
Zimbabwe will host the 25th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government Summit on October 22, 2026, at the new Parliament Building in Mt Hampden. By hosting the event, Zimbabwe will take over the rotational bloc chairmanship from Kenya for the 2026–2027 term.
In an interview, CEO Africa Roundtable chief executive officer Kipson Gundani described the chairmanship as “a very opportune time” for Harare to leverage its new position, particularly as COMESA remains one of the continent’s largest economic blocs by numbers, yet struggles with persistently low intra-regional trade volumes.
Zimbabwe’s exports to the regional bloc totalled a modest US$28.8 million in July, while imports from COMESA member states surged to US$87,6 million during the same period, leaving Zimbabwe with a substantial trade deficit of US$58,8 million for the month.
“COMESA, by numbers, is perhaps the largest regional bloc on the African continent, bringing together over 21 states, in excess of 600 million people, and almost a trillion dollars in GDP,” Mr Gundani said.
“But the sorry state about COMESA is that it is one of the trading blocs with the lowest volume of intra-regional trade. There is a scope to build that and boost inter-regional trade.”
With Zimbabwe now at the helm, Mr Gundani emphasised that the spotlight will fall firmly on the country. Most COMESA meetings will be hosted in Zimbabwe over the coming year, offering a direct platform to showcase national capabilities and, critically, to redefine the bloc’s policy agenda.
“It is an opportunity as a country to redefine the agenda of COMESA and try to accelerate the integration and harmonisation of policies that make trade easier and possible within the bloc,” he said.
The CEO Africa Roundtable, which represents private sector leaders across the continent, is already positioning itself to ensure that its members are not passive observers but active participants in shaping that agenda.
Mr Gundani outlined a three-pronged strategy: keeping members informed and at the table during key negotiations; creating tangible business links among member states; and, crucially, informing policy direction at both national and regional levels.
“Business is relationships – you do business with the people you know, and that is what we also try to accelerate,” he said. “In a way, we are actually catalysing trade within the region.”
A major focus of that advocacy, he noted, is the removal of non-tariff barriers – a persistent obstacle that continues to stifle commerce within COMESA. These range from stringent national regulations to on-the-ground police roadblocks in some member states, which Mr Gundani described as “malpractices that are to the detriment of free trade.”
“Besides the hard infrastructure, the major influence that hampers intra-COMESA trade is non-tariff barriers – regulations, sometimes very stringent, even police blocks within member states. At the Roundtable, we make sure we keep track of such malpractices,” he said.
To tackle these challenges head-on, the CEO Africa Roundtable will convene its annual convention in Cape Town this October.
Mr Gundani confirmed that the Secretary General of COMESA has been invited, alongside the heads of other high-performing regional blocs such as the East African Community (EAC), to further the discourse on intra-African trade in light of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
“We regard COMESA, EAC, and SADC as building blocks that can actually make the continental free trade area easier to achieve, as enunciated by the leaders in their own wisdom,” he said.
“In Cape Town, intra-Africa trade will take centre stage – how do we revolutionise it, make it more pronounced, and happen at a larger scale, so that we keep our wealth and fortunes within the African continent.”
The October gathering is expected to draw senior policymakers, business executives, and trade experts, with a clear mandate to move beyond rhetoric and deliver actionable solutions for a region that remains critically under-traded despite its vast economic potential.
