The Secretary-General of COMESA, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, visited Malawi on 08 March 2012 where he met the business community and visited the Federation of National Associations of Women in Business in Eastern and Southern Africa (FEMCOM) Secretariat.
Mr Ngwenya interacted with the business community in Malawi’s commercial city Blantyre, and also spent some time with the Malawi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and they discussed initiatives in improving that country’s economy.
He then visited FEMCOM, where he offered advice and guidance on how the institution can harmonise its activities with other COMESA programmes and institutions.
The Executive Director for FEMCOM, Mrs Katherine Ichoya expressed her gratitude upon the visit and gave a brief on the projects being undertaken by FEMCOM to help women grow their businesses in the region.
Also discussed was the implementation of the Business Incubators for African Women Entrepreneurs (BIAWE) upon, upon which the Secretary-General commended FEMCOM for its commitment. The project’s components include agro-processing, ICT and handicraft, and Mrs Ichoya expressed delight that funds for the project had been released after a long wait.
In Malawi, the project will take advantage of existing clusters that are working on leather, textile and garments as well as other products in agro processing.
The Secretary-General encouraged FEMCOM to specify on what it is trying to achieve on women in business and climate change.
“By identifying the specifications, it will be easier for the Secretariat to find partners like DFID who will complement our efforts” he said.
The Republic of Malawi is the current Chair of COMESA.