Issue#277
Issue #126 -10th
FridayDecember
19 October 2007
2010
Milestone Decisions made at COMESA
Council of Ministers Meeting
Group photo: Delegates at the just conluded COMESA Council of Ministers meeting in Lusaka, Zambia
T he COMESA Council of Ministers held
their Twenty Ninth Meeting in Lusaka,
Zambia on 6 December 2010.
The meeting was attended by COMESA
cabinet ministers and Senior representa-
tives from all the 19 COMESA Member
States. COMESA Institutions such as, PTA
Bank, the African Trade Insurance Agency,
and the COMESA Clearing house were
represented by their chief executives.
All other COMESA institutions were also
represented. Some cooperating partners
such as the European Commission, Japan,
the United Kingdom, the United States of
America and India attended as well.
The meeting was presided over by the
Chairperson of the Council of Ministers,
Senator Mrs. Jabulile Mashwama, Min-
ister of Commerce, Industry and Trade
of the Kingdom of Swaziland. It was
opened by Dr. Kalombo Mwansa, the
Zambia Minister Defense on behalf of the
George Kunda, the Vice President of the
Republic of Zambia. In his statement, he
commended COMESA for the good work
This bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Public Relations Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat.
being undertaken in regional integra-
tion while underscoring the need for more
coordinated efforts in ensuring that the
region effectively realizes the customs
union by 2012, through the implementa-
tion of agreed regional programmes both
at the national and regional levels. He
highlighted the importance of harnessing
science and technology for development
of the region especially in key sectors
such as agriculture, health, education and
energy. In this regard, he urged Member
States to implement the decisions made by
the Council of Ministers during their Twenty
Eighth meeting.
The Secretary General of COMESA,
Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, made a statement
in which he highlighted the importance
of reflecting on the progress made in
implementing the regional integration pro-
grammes and how the programmes have
contributed to uplifting the standards of
living of COMESA citizens. He cautioned
that the COMESA regional economy will
remain vulnerable to external shocks as
Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center , Ben Bella Road
P.O. Box 30015, 260 1 229 725, 260 1 225 107
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newsletter
newsletter
e 1
long as the economies are not structur-
ally transformed. He therefore urged the
Member States to revisit the strategy for
market integration by moving away from
trade integration to production integration.
During the opening ceremony, COME-
SA signed three Contribution Agreements
with the European Union under the Tenth
European Development Fund-Regional
Integration Support Programme, which
will assist in moving forward the COMESA
regional integration agenda. These
Contribution Agreements are in respect
of strengthening of economic integration
in the ESA-IO region; the Global Climate
Change Adaptation which is aimed at
supporting the implementation of the
COMESA programme on Climate Change;
and the Regional Political Integration and
Human Security Programme.
The Council of Ministers meeting re-
sulted in a number of key decisions in the
regional integration agenda. These Deci-
sions cover areas such as macro-economic
Continued on page ............... 3
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 EU/COMESA sign three programmes
2
worthy over €55 million to support regional
integration and COMESA’s strategic plan
T he EU and COMESA on 6 De-
cember 2010 signed three pro-
grammes, which will contribute to
COMESA’s economic integration process
and new interventions in the areas of
climate change and political integra-
tion. These programmes are in line
with COMESA’s Medium Strategic Plan
2011-2015. The signing ceremony took
place at the Twenty Ninth Meeting of
the COMESA Council of Ministers held
in Lusaka, Zambia. COMESA Secretary
General Sindiso Ngwenya signed on
behalf of COMESA whereas outgoing
Head of EU Delegation Dr Derek Fee
signed on behalf of the EU.
Dr. Derek Fee, Head of EU Delegation (left) and Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, COMESA
Secretary General (right) exchanging the signed documents
The first agreement is the Regional
Integration Support Programme (RISP2)
which supports the economic integration
process of the Eastern and Southern Af-
rica and Indian Ocean (ESA-IO) region.
It seeks to enhance the capacities of the
Regional Organisations from the region
(COMESA, IOC, IGAD, EAC) and stake-
holders in Member States to liberalise
trade, create integrated markets and
address obstacles to trade. RISP 2 con-
sists of a 100% EU contribution of €50
million and will be implemented over the
next 36 months through a Contribution
Agreement, a mechanism which allows
COMESA to implement the programme
using its own procedures.
The second programme, which relates
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to “Climate change adaptation and
mitigation in the Eastern and Southern
African region”, is a multi-donor pro-
gramme of € 45 million to which the EU
contributes €4 million. Norway is the
main donor of the programme. This pro-
gramme is part of the EU Global Climate
Change Alliance with African, Caribbean
and Pacific regions and countries, to step
up cooperation between the EU and the
developing countries that are hit earliest
and hardest by climate change.
The ESA component, which will be
implemented over 54 months, seeks to
address impacts of climate change in the
region through adaptation and mitiga-
tion actions. In particular, it will help
COMESA-EAC-SADC Member States to
increase investments in climate resilient
and carbon efficient agriculture, forestry,
land use and energy practices.
The third programme is the “Regional
Political integration and human security
support programme”. The project will be
implemented by three regional organiza-
tions: EAC, IGAD and COMESA at an es-
timated cost of €4.9 million. It focuses on
regional political integration and seeks
to contribute to improved levels of good
and democratic governance and human
security in the ESA-IO region. As part of
the programme, COMESA will benefit
from €1.6 million to take the lead on de-
mocracy issues and to work towards the
harmonisation of policies, strategies and
programmes on democratic processes
and to promote the culture of democracy
in governance systems and structures.
Speaking at the signing ceremony,
COMESA Secretary General Sindiso
Ngwenya pointed out that COMESA was
the only Regional Economic Community
with contribution agreement with the
EU having passed through a thorough
audit that confirmed that its systems are
of international standards. He further
assured the gathering that the funds
will be very well utilised for the benefit
of regional integration.“ I would like
to assure our member States and the
European Union that the funds will be
used to improve compliance and create
synergies between national and regional
programmes.
In this vein it is worth noting that
COMESA has intentions of utilising the
10th EDF regional funding to expand
and interconnect key regional trans-
port corridors initiated under national
EDF envelopes, for example the Kigali
– Gatuna connection and the Rwanda –
Uganda Northern Corridor, at the cost of
about EUR 45 million. COMESA and the
European Union are currently apprais-
ing a EURO 50 million programme in the
context of the North-South corridor” said
Mr Ngwenya.
The outgoing Head of EU Delegation
accredited to COMESA, Dr Derek Fee,
said EU continues to support COMESA
in its different missions “With these
programmes, the EU demonstrates its
commitment to support COMESA in its
traditional missions of economic integra-
tion as well as in its endeavours to reply
to arising global challenges, such as
Political and Human Security and Climate
Change” Noted Dr Fee.
Dr Derek Fee, who is soon to retire
from the European Commission after
more than 30 years of service, also stat-
ed that he was impressed by the results
achieved by COMESA and its Member
States and was pleased that the tripar-
tite process between COMESA-EAC and
SADC reflects the wider integration vision
which is needed and will benefit the re-
gion and the entire African continent.
COMESA Secretary General calls for diversification
of economic sectors in the region
E
conomies within COMESA remain
vulnerable to the aftershocks of
the global economic crisis due to
continued dependence on commodities,
COMESA Secretary-General told the
Twenty Ninth Meeting of the COMESA
Council of Minister and urged for diversi-
fication to other sectors.
“The recovery of our economy remains
fragile because it depends on the price of
our export commodities which have re-
mained all time high except for 2008 and
2009,” Sindiso Ngwenya told a meeting
that took place on the 6th December 2010,
in Lusaka Zambia.
“It is interesting to note that the ex-
ports in manufactured products were not
affected. The lesson we can draw form
this is that the time is now for COMESA
countries to revisit the strategy for market
integration that has placed emphasis on
trade; that is trade integration, to produc-
tion integration” added Mr. Ngwenya.
Mr. Ngwenya further informed the
meeting that the huge demand by nations
such as China and India have helped
Milestone Decisions made at COMESA Council of Ministers Meeting
............. Continued from page 1
developments, the Regional Integration
Support Mechanism, trade in services, the
elimination of non tariff barriers, the cus-
toms union, the Tripartite Free Trade Area,
trade negotiations, science and technology
and intellectual property. In addition, the
Council noted the Report of the Twenty-
Fourth Meeting of the Council of Bureaux
on the Third Party Motor Vehicle Insurance
(Yellow Card) Scheme and the Report
of the Fourth Meeting of the Council of
Surety of the Regional Customs Transit
Guarantee (RCTG) Scheme. The Council
also adopted the COMESA Secretariat
Work Programme and budget for the
year 2011.
Regarding disputes relating to non
tariff barriers, the Council commended
Member States for resolving disputes on
non tariff barriers. Specifically, the follow-
ing disputes were resolved through bilat-
eral discussions : The milk dispute between
Zambia and Zimbabwe; the milk dispute
between Kenya and Zambia; the dis-
pute on iron sheets between Malawi and
Kenya; and the dispute on milk between
Zambia and Zimbabwe. On the Draft
Regulations on the elimination of Non Tar-
iff Barriers, the Council decided that the
draft Regulations should be finalized as
Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya,
COMESA Secretary General
drive-up prices of commodities since
2008, handing a reprieve for commod-
ity exporters even as other sectors took a
hit. “It is, however, not certain that these
prices will remain at an all time high be-
cause should demand fall there will be a
precipitous drop in commodity prices that
will have negative social consequences,”
the official said.
Statistics show that the global fi-
nancial crisis hurt the value of intra-
soon as possible for appropriate decisions
by the Policy Organs.
Regarding the customs union, the Coun-
cil decided that migration to the COMESA
common external Tariff ( CTN) should be
completed by the beginning of 2012, in
light of the time left for the transition pe-
riod and the varying budget cycles among
member States. Further, Member States
should implement the Customs Manage-
ment Regulations and establish national
implementation structures, to effectively
implement the transition period for the
Customs Union. On the Africa Growth
and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the Council
requested Member States to come up
with a work programme of activities to
be undertaken in order that the eligible
AGOA COMESA member States ably
enhance their ability to take advantage
of the AGOA preferences. As regards the
preparations for the Tenth AGOA Forum
to be held in Zambia in 2011, there was
need for a mid-term review of AGOA
before the Forum is held.
On science and technology, Member
States agreed to report to the next Policy
Organs on the progress they have made
on implementing the Council Decisions on
science and technology at the national lev-
el. Regarding intellectual property, among
others, the Council requested Member
3
COMESA trade which declined by seven
per cent, from $13.7 billion in 2008 to
$12.3billion last year.
The bloc’s total trade with the rest of
the world, declined by 20 per cent from
$301 billion in 2008 to $241 billion in
2009.
Mr. Ngwenya said that although
economies within COMESA did not suf-
fer devastating effects such as witnessed
in developed countries, there were still
threats of aftershocks unless member
States diversified their respective econo-
mies.
“The COMESA regional economy
will remain vulnerable to external shocks
as long as the economies are not structur-
ally transformed. For example, one of
the main factors that contributed to the
decrease in intra COMESA trade in 2009
was the fall in the demand for commodi-
ties, such as, tea and copper in the import-
ing countries. It is interesting to note that
the exports in manufactured products
were not” he pointed out.
States to consider the harmonization of
intellectual property laws in the COMESA
region in order to promote a common and
effective framework for the utilisation of
the intellectual property system for socio-
economic and technological development
of the region, taking into account the WTO
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property.
The COMESA Secretariat working
closely with key cooperating partners and
the Member States will tirelessly continue
to assist member States in the implementa-
tion of all COMESA programmes in order
to move forward the regional integration
agenda at an accelerated pace for the
overall benefit of the ordinary people of
the region. This will take into account the
processes under the COMESA-EAC-SADC
Tripartite Free Trade Area.
During the meeting, all the COME-
SA Institutions presented their reports
which indicated their contribution to the
COMESA integration agenda. Overall, the
Council urged Member States to continue
actively participating in the activities of
these institutions since they are institutions
that support the COMESA regional inte-
gration agenda. The cooperating partners
made statements at the meeting as well
highlighting their continued support to
COMESA’ s integration.
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 COMESA Customs Union Depends on Commit-
4 ment of every Member State - Zambia
O
fficially opening the
Twenty Ninth Meeting of
the COMESA Council of
Ministers, the Zambian Vice Presi-
dent George Kunda, having posed
a number of rhetoric questions
concluded that the success of the
COMESA Customs Union (CU)
will depend on the commitment of
every Member State to the cause.
He said this in a speech read on his
behalf by Zambia Defense Minis-
ter Dr. Kalombo Mwansa.
Mr Kunda said the success of
the COMESA Customs Union
which is supposed to be realised
by 2012, could only come about
through relentless implementation
of agreed regional programmes at
national and international levels.
“We need to ask ourselves two
questions, what progress have we
made so far in the implementation
of our Customs Union, and more
fundamental, what can we do to
ensure that more rapid progress is
made towards operationalising our
Customs Union during the remain-
ing one and half years of the tran-
sition period?” asked Mr Kunda .
“The region should not lose fo-
cus of the ultimate goal of regional
integration and the benefits to the
ordinary people. The onus is upon
us to make our regional economic
grouping a success” he added.
He pointed out that more co-
ordinated efforts, both at national
and regional levels are required
in order to effectively realize the
COMESA Customs Union by
2012. He further pointed out that
the Customs Union will be benefi-
cial to the region due to the remov-
al of trade barriers and through the
provision of a much larger market
for goods produced in the region.
Recalling this year’s theme
which is “Harnessing Science and
Technology for development”,
Mr Kunda said there was need to
ensure that science and technology
was fully integrated in a horizontal
and cross cutting manner which
would ensure the involvement
of all ministries departments and
relevant stakeholders at national
level.
He added that science and
technology in key sectors such as
agriculture and health, is key to
achieving the MDGs. He called for
a cross-cutting implementation of
the science and technology deci-
sions at the national and regional
level, beginning with establishment
of the required institutional frame-
works in terms of inter-ministerial
national and regional committees.
On intellectual property rights,
he underscored the importance of
harnessing regional intellectual
assets and skills, to assist the key
objectives of value addition and
development.
Lastly, he reminded the Coun-
cil that the objective of regional
integration is to ensure that ordi-
nary people improve their living
standards. In this regard, he called
upon COMESA to faithfully imple-
ment COMESA programs while
fully taking into account the need
for the ordinary people to benefit
from the programs.

Message to e-COMESA subscribers

This is our last e-COMESA Newsletter in

2010. The e-COMESA Team takes this
opportunity to wish all our subscribers a
Happy Festive season. May you achieve
success in every facets of life and all your
heartfelt wishes comes true. Wishing you a
Happy New Year of Happiness and
Prosperity.
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 COMESA Civil Societies and private sector
organizations agree to play an active role.
Delegates at the third annual review workshop for civil society and private sector
organizations, in Nairobi, Kenya
T
he Common Market for Eastern
and Southern Africa (COMESA)
held its third annual review
workshop for civil society and pri-
vate sector organizations in Nairobi,
Kenya, from 29th November to 2nd
December 2010. The workshop was
attended by representatives of both
accredited and non-accredited civil
society representatives from Burundi,
Comoros, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Ethiopia,
Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauri-
tius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Swaziland,
Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, African
Union, IGAD as well as Media organi-
sations from Kenya, D.R Congo and
Zambia.
At this workshop the civil soci-
ety elected a committee that will
spearhead the COMESA civil society
organizations. The committee com-
prises the: Southern Africa Center for
Constructive Resolution of Disputes
(SACCORD) – ZAMBIA, L’ Union
Congolaise des Femmes des Me-
dias, (UCOFEM) – DRC, the Africa
Peace Forum (APFO) – KENYA and
L’ Organisation pour le développent
socio-économiques (Bender Djedid)
– DJIBOUTI. The committee will serve
for a period of two years.
Opening the workshop, Ambas-
sador John Lanyasunya of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, Kenya, welcomed
the participants to the workshop and
appreciated the importance of the
workshop which he said resonated
well with COMESA’s objectives of
Peace and Security in the region.
The ambassador thanked COME-
SA for bringing together participants
from civil society organisations
(CSOs), media and private sector for
a formal engagement in the preven-
tion and resolution of conflict that
require a multiplicity of approaches
and actors.
Speaking on behalf of the COME-
SA Secretary General, Ambassador
Salvator Matata, who is also the
COMESA Liaison Officer at the Af-
rican Union, commended the Kenyan
government for the quick recovery
from the post election violence crisis.
He further stressed the importance of
CSOs in the matters concerning peace
and security in the region.
The meeting revisited the 10th
COMESA workshop that took place
in Kigali, Rwanda in November
2009, where it was agreed that the
COMESA Secretariat creates aware-
ness among the CSOs on the rules of
accreditation. This recommendation
was followed by national consultations
which were held in Burundi, Comoros,
DR Congo, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Madagascar, Malawi, Rwanda, Sey-
chelles, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia
5
and Zimbabwe.
Ambassador Matata further
informed the meeting that during the
summit that took place in Swaziland in
August this year, COMESA launched
its four pillars in peace and security
which are conflict prevention, conflict
resolution, post conflict reconstruction
and human security.
Mr. Matata briefed the workshop
on the peace and security in the re-
gion based on the report of the 10th
meeting of the Ministers of Foreign
Affairs of COMESA region.
The report among other things
noted that there was progress in the
implementation of the peace process
in Burundi, consolidation and pro-
motion of the peace process in the
Comoros, new developments in the
peace process in Madagascar, the
role played by Uganda and Burundi
in the Somali crisis, and the Rwanda
Peace Keeping mission in Darfur-Su-
dan. The report also noted the recent
COMESA election observer missions in
Burundi and Rwanda and the security
situation along the East African coast.
Representatives of both accredited
and non-accredited civil society or-
ganisations made brief presentations
of the situations in their respective or-
ganizations. The presentations focused
on activities of the organizations,
opportunities encountered and chal-
lenges. Participants exchanged views
on the above areas in order to find a
common ground for intervention.
Also in attendance was Mr Takwa
Zebulon Suifon, an Expert in Peace
building at the Post Conflict Recon-
struction and Development (PCRD)
Unit of the Conflict Management
Division (CMD), Peace and Security
Department (PSD) at the African
Union Commission, who shared with
the participants the experience of
ECOWAS in the peace and security
situation. This experience on how
ECOWAS overcame some conflicts
was commended by the delegates as
some of the good practice that could
be emulated by the COMESA region.
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