Three COMESA Countries Egypt, Mauritius and Seychelles have rolled out the COVID-19 vaccinations. According to the COMESA Early Warning System (COMWARN) report, countries in the COMESA region have however, been slow to roll out COVID-19 vaccination. The slow rollout in Africa generally has been attributed to the costs of procurement, availability and safety concerns. Most…
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Thursday, February 11, 2021: The International Organization for Migration and COMESA will review their current memorandum of understanding (MoU) to incorporate emerging issues on movement of people particularly in the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. Priority issues to be addressed are those relating to free…
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Uganda has become the first country in the eastern and southern African region to convert its driver’s licensing categories to conform to the regionally harmonized Tripartite Transit and Transport Facilitation Programme (TTTFP) standards. The county will commence issuance of the new licenses from the 1st March 2021, according to Mr. Winstone Katushabe, Commissioner Transport Regulation…
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Burundi export products are set to access the larger regional market following improvement of their quality standards. This has been made possible through the provision of laboratory equipment to the agency responsible for Standardization and Quality Control (BBN) in Burundi. The equipment, provided under the COMESA Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM), include a UV spectrophotometer,…
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Tuesday, February 2, 2021: New Heads of Diplomatic Missions of Canada, Germany and France have been accredited as Special Representatives to COMESA. Ambassadors Pamela O’Donnell of Canada, Dr. Anne Wager-Mitchell of Germany and François Goldblatt of France presented their Letters of Credence to Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe in a ceremony held virtually on Tuesday 2nd…
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The COMESA Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM), with support from the Africa Leather and Leather Product Institute (ALLPI), has supported the leather sector in Madagascar by bringing various players in the to form a leather cluster known as GasySkin. In addition, RISM has provided training to over 30 participants, including local artisans, in regional systems…
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The COVID-19 pandemic is the worst thing that has happened to many small scale enterprises across the globe, but the Zimbabwe leather and textile sector has defied the odds. Two clusters, one dealing with leather and the other in textiles have recorded over USD 36,600 in profits on goods produced during the COVID 19 era.…
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The COMESA Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) in partnership with GIZ-MEIRA recently organized a 10-day training in leadership and business management for the Women in Business in Malawi. The training attracted small scale entrepreneurs from two cooperatives in Malawi: the Luso lawo Cooperative with 12 members and Chiwila Cooperative with 15 members. It was…
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Tuesday, January 26, 2021: Libya has renewed its commitment to COMESA and resolved to actively participate in the implementation of regional integration programmes. To kickstart this process, COMESA Secretariat hosted a two-day virtual sensitization workshop on 25-26 January 2021 which was attended by stakeholders from diverse public and private sectors in Libya. Libya’s Minister of…
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Secretary General (SG) Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe has described the deaths of two Cabinet Ministers that occurred recently in Malawi as devastating to the nation and region as a whole. In a message of condolences addressed to the President of Malawi His Excellency Lazarus Chakwera, the SG regretted that the region has continued to lose lives…
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