Summit of East, Southern Africa Common Market convenes in New Administrative Capital today

PRESIDENT Abdel Fattah El Sisi is due to assume the chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) at a summit conference of the Heads of State and Government Egypt is hosting in the New Administrative Capital today, November 23.

The summit is bringing together in person or via videoconference the leaders of COMESA’s 21 member-states to advance regional integration as part of the overall African drive for promoting economic co-operation and trade exchanges across the continent.

President Sisi will assume chairmanship of the major African economic grouping from the President of Madagascar at the outset of the summit. Appearing atop the conference’s agenda is the launch of COMESA’s Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2021- 2025.

“Building Resilience through Strategic Digital Economic Integration” is the theme of the summit.

Today’s summit is COMESA’s 21st since its launch in December 1994. The priorities of economic integration and the status of regional integration programmes would feature high in summit discussions, according to Trade and Industry Minister Nevine Gamea.

Speaking at joint press conference with COMESA Secretary-General Chileshe Kapwepwe the other day, Minister Gamea said that the summit would, as its theme indicates, look into ways of boosting economic exchanges and enhancing the resilience of member-states in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic’s economic repercussions.

Egypt is looking forward to opening up new horizons for co-operation with COMESA states in such priority sectors as transportation, energy, communications and health, she said.

Egypt has been an active member of COMESA, with trade exchanges between Egypt and the group hitting $3 billion in 2020, according to a State Information Service (SIS) report citing the Cabinet’s Information and Decision Support Centre.

This volume of trade exchanges represents some 60 per cent of total trade between Egypt and the African continent, which is estimated at $5 billion, according to the same report. Egypt’s exports to COMESA members Libya, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia and Tunisia reached $2.3 billion, it added.