Comesa seeks to overcome hurdles to economic unity

DJIBOUTI – Leaders from Africa’s largest trading bloc Wednesday called for cooperation to overcome hurdles blocking integration at a summit shrouded by festering conflicts within some member states and regional tension.

The incoming Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) chairman, Djibouti’s President Ismail Omar Guelleh, pleged that his leadership would focus on growth, which has been scuppered by instability. “During the year of our chairmanship, Djibouti’s focus shall be to further maximise elements of cooperation, institutional refinement and increased membership involvement, essential to our growth and prosperity of the organisation,” Guelleh said.”Comesa is Africa’s richest region, with huge potential in electric power generation, oil reserves, phosphates, precious minerals and enormous under-utilised areas of arable land,” he added.”The critical challenge that is still before us is whether as political and business leaders we can generate the desirable flow of goods, services, capital and people across borders within Comesa so as to take advantage of globalisation,” Guelleh said.Outgoing Comesa chair Rwandan President Paul Kagame lamented that instability threatens plans to establish a unified customs system by 2008.”Instability in the region and the civil or inter-member states’ conflicts …are threats to our regional integration, and Comesa leaders have to play their role in solving these crises,” Kagame said.”We have to see continued serious efforts of integration especially for the customs union,” he told six heads of states and prime ministers attending the 11th Comesa summit.Trouble spots such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), gripped with tension ahead of the final outcome of its first-ever free polls in 40 years and fears of an all-out war in Somalia threatening regional conflict are high hurdles to the bloc’s envisioned economic growth.In addition, the unresolved border row between arch-foes Ethiopia and Eritrea also hobbles prosperity of the 21-member Comesa.Although Somalia is not in Comesa, foreign involvement could fuel a full-scale war there that could engulf the whole region, notably Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have been accused of waging a proxy war in the lawless nation.”Misunderstandings undermine development,” Kagame said.”If you have two or three problem areas in a region, it doesn’t go well with integration.In areas that have conflict, business is not easy and it is undermining economic activities.”The leaders will also thrash out technical details, notably legislation needed to establish the common market among countries home to 400 million people representing half the continent’s population, with a total gross domestic product of US$170 billion (N$1,2 trillion).To boost external trade, the bloc is also looking to enhance ties with the European Union, its main economic partner, which currently accounts for US$22 billion in two-way trade.When it was founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa, Comesa was envisaged as a free-trade zone encompassing all its members by 2000, evolving into a customs union by 2004 and a monetary union by 2025.But it has fallen short of its plans.The Comesa secretariat hopes that the creation of the customs union, if successful, will mark another milestone in efforts to restore stability by using trade and investments.However, at the moment, only 11 Comesa members participate in the free trade zone.At a June meeting in Kigali in 2005, the remaining 10 countries outside the zone were urged to join as soon as possible.Comesa groups Angola, Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Nampa-AFP”During the year of our chairmanship, Djibouti’s focus shall be to further maximise elements of cooperation, institutional refinement and increased membership involvement, essential to our growth and prosperity of the organisation,” Guelleh said.”Comesa is Africa’s richest region, with huge potential in electric power generation, oil reserves, phosphates, precious minerals and enormous under-utilised areas of arable land,” he added.”The critical challenge that is still before us is whether as political and business leaders we can generate the desirable flow of goods, services, capital and people across borders within Comesa so as to take advantage of globalisation,” Guelleh said.Outgoing Comesa chair Rwandan President Paul Kagame lamented that instability threatens plans to establish a unified customs system by 2008.”Instability in the region and the civil or inter-member states’ conflicts …are threats to our regional integration, and Comesa leaders have to play their role in solving these crises,” Kagame said.”We have to see continued serious efforts of integration especially for the customs union,” he told six heads of states and prime ministers attending the 11th Comesa summit.Trouble spots such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), gripped with tension ahead of the final outcome of its first-ever free polls in 40 years and fears of an all-out war in Somalia threatening regional conflict are high hurdles to the bloc’s envisioned economic growth.In addition, the unresolved border row between arch-foes Ethiopia and Eritrea also hobbles prosperity of the 21-member Comesa.Although Somalia is not in Comesa, foreign involvement could fuel a full-scale war there that could engulf the whole region, notably Ethiopia and Eritrea, which have been accused of waging a proxy war in the lawless nation.”Misunderstandings undermine development,” Kagame said.”If you have two or three problem areas in a region, it doesn’t go well with integration.In areas that have conflict, business is not easy and it is undermining economic activities.”The leaders will also thrash out technical details, notably legislation needed to establish the common market among countries home to 400 million people representing half the continent’s population, with a total gross domestic product of US$170 billion (N$1,2 trillion).To boost external trade, the bloc is also looking to enhance ties with the European Union, its main economic partner, which currently accounts for US$22 billion in two-way trade.When it was founded in 1993 as an offshoot of the Preferential Trade Area for Eastern and Southern Africa, Comesa was envisaged as a free-trade zone encompassing all its members by 2000, evolving into a customs union by 2004 and a monetary union by 2025.But it has fallen short of its plans.The Comesa secretariat hopes that the creation of the customs union, if successful, will mark another milestone in efforts to restore stability by using trade and investments.However, at the moment, only 11 Comesa members participate in the free trade zone.At a June meeting in Kigali in 2005, the remaining 10 countries outside the zone were urged to join as soon as possible.Comesa groups Angola, Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.Nampa-AFP