Author: Mwangi Gakunga

The AfDB Annual Convention: Two COMESA Institutions Feted

The Trade and Development Bank and the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATIA) have been recognized for excellence in development financing and insurance services. The two received the awards on the side-lines of the 57th Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank and the 48th Annual Meeting of the African Development Fund. TDB received two awards,…
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Fresh Impetus to Implement COMESA Protocols on Free Movement

The COMESA Protocols on free movement have over the years faced slow pace of implementation, with many decisions of the Council of the Ministers calling on Member States to speed up ratification. The protocols are on the Gradual Relaxation and Eventual Elimination of Visa Requirements (commonly known as the visa protocol) and on the Free…
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Framework for Strengthening Conflict Prevention Developed

COMESA Secretariat working with the African Union Political Affairs, Peace and Security Department (COMESA-AU) has developed a framework for sharing early warning tools on conflict prevention and management with Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) from Southern Africa. The framework will enable the parties to analyse data and information for conflict prevention, peace building and conflict management…
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Opportunities, Resources Available in Promoting Renewable Energy

Lusaka, Tuesday, May 10, 2022: Over 40 Energy Experts from COMESA Members States are attending a capacity building workshop on Off- Grid renewable energy conducted by the Regional Infrastructure Finance Facility (RIFF), a World Bank financed project implemented jointly by COMESA and the Trade and Development Bank (TDB). The workshop, which is taking place in…
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Trade in Services Negotiations Resume as Experts Meet

Trade experts from COMESA Member States are meeting this week to continue with the negotiations on the draft schedules of specific commitments under Trade in Services sector. This is the 11th Committee Meeting on Trade in Services, the apex forum of the Member States in the subsector. Since 2009, following the adoption of the COMESA…
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Small Scale Trade at Ethiopia – Djibouti Border Set to Rise

Small scale cross border trade is set to thrive along the Djibouti- Ethiopia borders following the first joint border trade committee meeting on 27 – 30 April 2022. The meeting was driven by the need to identify and resolve challenges facing the implementation of the Djibouti – Ethiopia Border Trade Protocol signed in 2015. The…
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Building Capacity for Key Stakeholders in the Regional Energy Sector

The project on Enhancement of Sustainable Regional Energy market for Eastern and Southern Africa (ESREM) has conducted a series of events in the region and beyond to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency, foster independent energy regulation and study tour on interconnected power system operations. The latest was a workshop on the framework for regulatory…
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Seychelles Appoints New Permanent Rep to COMESA

Lusaka, Friday, May 06, 2022: Seychelles has appointed a Permanent Representative to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). His Excellency Claude Morel, High Commissioner of Seychelles to South Africa presented his letter of Credence to Secretary General, Chileshe Kapwepwe at the COMESA headquarters in Lusaka, Friday, 6 May 2022. During the event, Ms…
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Informal Cross-Border Trade on Steady Rise in Zambia

Lusaka, Tuesday, May 3, 2022: The overall import and export values of informal trade volumes in Zambia has significantly increased from  USD 13.3 Million in 2019 to USD 77.2 Million in 2021. Similarly, the informal trade export value has risen from USD81.02 million in 2019 to USD 206.08 million during the same period. This is…
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Building Capacity for Digitally Enabled Trading System

Implementing digital trade facilitation reforms have positive impacts on intra-COMESA exports. It is estimated that an increase of 10 percent in the adoption of digital trade technologies would result in a 5.5 percent increase in intra-COMESA exports. The regional organization is therefore scaling-up the Free Trade Area (FTA) to a Digital Free Trade Area (DFTA),…
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