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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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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COMESA has developed a draft strategy to harness the benefits of the Blue Economy for its 21 Member States. The draft strategy was presented to delegates from the Members States on 26-27 April 2022 in Lusaka, Zambia, where it was reviewed and validated. The concept of the Blue Economy has been embraced by the COMESA…
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The current portfolio of World Bank supported projects in the COMESA region is close to five billion dollars and set to rise as other programmes are set to come on board. The largest project is the Regional Infrastructure Finance Facility (RIFF) of US$ 425 million whose objective is to promote access to long-term finance and…
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Burundi is set to join the global agenda cracking-down financial crimes including money laundering by creating its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Towards this goal, COMESA is supporting the country to conform to the international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in line with Burundian needs. Recently, Burundi FIU Board officials comprising of…
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Plans are underway to establish a regional Agricultural Commodity Exchange Centre as part of the implementation of the 2021-2031 strategy for the Alliance for Commodity Trade in East and Southern Africa (ACTESA). The centre shall link small-scale farmers to national, regional and international markets within the Common Marker for Eastern Africa (COMESA) the East African…
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Monday, April 11, 2022: Industry experts from COMESA region are meeting this week to consider a concept paper on strengthening industrial integration in the region. This initiative aims at attaining comprehensive industrial integration taking into account continental programmes such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and ‘Made in Africa’ initiative by the government…
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April 07, 2022: The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and COMESA hosted a virtual workshop with students, staff of two universities that have rolled out the COMESA Masters Programme in Regional Integration to disseminate two ECA reports namely: “Assessing Regional Integration in Africa (ARIA X) focusing on the theme of Services Trade Liberalization and integration…
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COMESA has been recognized for its role in the control and eradication of diseases to improve animal production and productivity in Africa. The award was presented during the African Union Inter-African Bureau for Animal Resources (AU-IBAR) 70th Anniversary and 10th Anniversary of Rinderpest Eradication Director of Agriculture and Industry Ms Providence Mavubi received the award…
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Member States need to migrate from traditional national statistical systems to emerging data ecosystems to ensure reliable statistics which are key elements towards better measurement, monitoring, and management of results. The call was made during the opening of a four-day regional workshop on National Strategies for Development of Statistics (NSDS) that began Monday 14 March…
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