Stakeholders Look Forward to COMESA Heads of State Summit

As the 22nd Heads of State Summit for the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is set to begin on 8 June, various stakeholders have expressed their optimism at the state of play.

The summit’s theme is “Economic Integration for a Thriving COMESA Anchored on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism”, and is hosted in Lusaka.

Emmanuel Muma, Researcher for the Centre for Trade and Policy Development (CTPD), anticipates the summit to hold discussions around practical policies that will enhance integration beyond COMESA member states.

Muma told Zambia News and Information Service (ZANIS) that he welcomed the dialogue the summit will enable around the green economy. He said the CTPD anticipates “most of the economies [in COMESA] should be investing in green economy investments such as renewable energies, and even solar panels and biogas, because these are some of the investments, especially when you’re talking about green investments, that are responsible for protecting our environment”.

He said another priority the event should address is the option of making technology accessible and affordable especially for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Muma argued their growth is hampered by lack of technology, a situation that could be improved by introducing incentives to enhance products and make them competitive on the international stage.

According to Muma, “Most of our production, if even check within Zambia, you will find that a lot of SMEs are trained to do one or two things but they don’t receive the much needed support to the incentives and technologies are not there to encourage them to grow from being a small scale to maybe a large enterprise through access to technology.”

Photo: Lusaka Times