ADDIS ABABA – Assistant Secretary-General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) said that his office is facilitating conditions for Africa economic integration.
In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald COMESA Assistant Secretary General Director, Ambassador Dr. Kipyego Cheluget said that currently, COMESA runs 14 tangible regional programs to promote combined effort towards prosperity to help the aspirations of African integration.
To mention a few, he said the Trade and Development Bank (TDB) established five years ago is now financing different infrastructural and investment projects not only in the COMESA region but also throughout Africa.
The trade insurance companies of COMESA are very active and doing their level best regarding trade facilitation in the continent, he added. “We have one of the most successful innovations for trade facilitation in insurance called –the Yellow Card. It enables us to buy one-stop insurance service that runs across the region.”
According to him, the African Leather and Leather Products Institute (ALLOI) based in Addis Ababa has been involving all member countries of COMESA active engagement. It has leather specialization studios for leather making and processing.
COMESA also signed a tripartite free trade area agreement with the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the East African Community to intensify the free trade area objectives. As to him, apart from COMESA and other regional organizations, countries should play significant role for the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Indicating that 70 percent of COMESA programs are financed by development partners which is still the challenge to its effectiveness, Dr. Cheluget called upon the member countries’ active participation to strengthen COMESA.“We have programs that are very dire to all our member countries.”
According to him, Ethiopia is a very active member of COMESA which is really at the center of the aspirations of African integration and playing a leading roles in facilitating the AfCFTA.
The Zambia-Kenya and Tanzania power interconnector project is currently undertaken by the support of COMESA and AU which is a milestone project that expedites African economic integration. This is a greater project that connects the East with the South, he noted.
Ethiopia will be a very good beneficiary of the project in which it will open opportunities to enter into a power trade and able to sell power to the Southern part of Africa following this inter-countries power interconnection. The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) is a free trade area agreement with a twenty one member states.
The Ethiopian Herald, December 26/2019
BY TEWODROS KASSA
