The Bureau of the Council of Ministers has said that COMESA needs to get
more innovative ways of financing to ensure continued and sustained financing for its programmes in all Member States. At its 14th Meeting held in Addis Ababa on 14 July 2012, the Bureau said that the Secretariat should get more ideas on how to ensure up to date payment of financial obligations by all Member States.
“Member States should be continually updated on the benefits of their continued financial support and diligence so that they can clearly see the advantages of maintaining a financially stable institution.”
The Bureau is currently made up of Malawi as the Chair, Uganda as the Vice- Chair and Swaziland as the Rapportuer. The meeting was attended by Hon. John Bande, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Malawi (Chairperson); Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, the Minister of Trade, Industry and Commerce, Uganda (Vice-Chairperson); Hon. Senator Jabulile Mashwama, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Trade, Kingdom of Swaziland (Rapportuer); officers from the trade sector ministries in the three mentioned countries; and the Secretariat.
The meeting emphasized the need for all divisions at the Secretariat to research on all the programme interventions so that the beneficiaries in Member States can be assisted to further implementation and profit to the grassroots people.
The Bureau requested for a matrix for each programme being implemented by COMESA so that these can be audited, evaluated and followed up by the Ministers in the respective Member States.
The Bureau discussed administrative matters; budget performance and the status of Member State contributions; the progress on the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Trade Negotiations Forum; the status of implementation of the roadmap of the COMESA Customs Union during the three-year transition period; the First Ministerial Meeting on Science and Technology; and the schedule of meetings for July-December 2012.
On the preparations for the 16th COMESA Summit to take place in Kampala, Uganda, Hon. Kyambadde said Uganda is ready to host the Summit and welcome all Member States to the East African country this year.