Category: Latest News

50 Million African Women Speak platform (50MAWSP) National Launches Planned in 14 Member States

Lusaka, Monday, 17 August 2020: COMESA will this week start conducting national launches of a digital platform known as the 50 Million African Women Speak (50MAWSP) Project specifically designed to address the information needs of women in business in the region.  The trade bloc will roll out the Platform in 14 Member States between August…
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Women in Burundi Empowered to Produce Good Quality Textile

Women working in the textile sector in Burundi will soon be able to produce high quality cloth after undergoing skills and entrepreneurial empowerment through an incubator project supported by the Federation of Women in Business for Eastern and Southern Africa (FEMCOM) in partnership with African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD) Spanish Fund. The training which is…
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Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project Extended to end of 2021

The World Bank has agreed to a no cost extension for the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) to December 2021.  This was revealed during the 12th Project Steering Committee (PSC) meeting held virtually on Friday 14 August 2020.  The five million US dollars project was launched in 2016 for a five-year period. COMESA’s Assistant…
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COMESA Ministers Adopt COVID-19 Food Security and Nutrition Plan

Ministers responsible for agriculture, environment and natural resources have adopted the COMESA COVID-19 Food Security Response Plan to help the region deal with the impacts of Covid-19 on regional food security. In their 7th joint meeting conducted virtually, the Ministers expressed concern about the unfolding effects of Covid-19 on food and nutrition and called on…
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Improved Seed Trade will Unlock Regional Food Security

Sustainable agriculture is an essential factor to advancing trade within COMESA and the rest of Africa. Over the last two decades, Africa has remained a net food importer, with agricultural accounting for about 60% of Africa’s total trade in agricultural products. Furthermore, agricultural product imports account for around 13% of total imports. The COVID-19 pandemic…
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Business Sector Calls for Digital Inclusiveness and Enterprise Competitiveness in Cross-Border Trade

The current disruption in global supply chains has underlined the importance of regional markets, and the need to address constraints and build robust economies that can fully compete and take advantage of regional markets. According to the Chairman of the COMESA Business Council (CBC) Mr. Marday Venkatasamy, the strategy of ‘Building Regional Going Global’, has…
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FEMCOM Supporting Eritrean Women Farmers Tackle COVID-19 Challenges through Agriculture

Agriculture in the African continent has increasingly come under severe strain due to increased population, changing access to resources and evolving markets, climate change and the global COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns. But in the State of Eritrea, farmers, most of them women, have been able to produce adequate food for the local consumer markets, thanks to…
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COMESA COVID-19 Food Security and Nutrition Plan Adopted

Tuesday 4th August 2020: Ministers responsible for agriculture, environment and natural resources have adopted the COMESA COVID-19 Food Security Response Plan to help the region deal with the impacts of Covid-19 on regional food security. In their 7th joint meeting conducted virtually, the Ministers expressed concern about the unfolding effects of Covid-19 on food and…
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Courtesy: Ministry of Agriculture, Kenya

COMESA Sugar Safeguard on Kenya is Paying-Off

Tuesday, August 4, 2020: The sugar industry in Kenya has steadily expanded over the years, currently with 15 white sugar mills being opened and several jaggery (healthy sugar alternative) operators in place. This development has been attributed to the safeguard granted by COMESA since 2002 when the government sought protection from importation of cheap sugar…
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Improved Seed Trade, will Unlock Regional Food Security

Sustainable agriculture is an essential factor to advancing trade within COMESA and the rest of Africa. Over the last two decades, Africa has remained a net food importer, with agricultural accounting for about 60% of Africa’s total trade in agricultural products. Furthermore, agricultural product imports account for around 13% of total imports. The COVID-19 pandemic…
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