Countries of eastern and southern Africa seek to strengthen economic ties, Sherine Nasr writes The 20 member states of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have a busy year ahead of them. Last week Erastus Mwencha, secretary-general of the COMESA, visited Egypt and underlined a number of major events which will take place during the year aimed at enhancing trade relations and investment among member states. Some long- standing obstacles will also be tackled. Among the upcoming events is the COMESA summit due to take place in a few weeks in Uganda. According to Mwencha government representatives will meet to discuss important issues related to travel procedures and movement within the Market. "We believe it is important to open borders for the business community to be able to move freely within the COMESA countries. Getting visas and other travel procedures should be a lot easier than the case is now," said Adel Gazarin, chairman of the Egyptian Businessmen Association. Another major event for businessmen is the forthcoming COMESA business summit to take place next June in Kampala, Uganda. According to Mwencha, more than 500 businessmen from the member states are expected to attend the event which will focus on three main sectors, namely infrastructure, services and subsidies. During the summit, there will be workshops covering agribusiness and exports, information technology and telecommunications, railways and port concessions, long-term financing, tourism, aviation and franchising. "In fact, Egyptian businessmen are very willing to take part in the business summit. It is perhaps the only way to know our partners in other countries," said Hussein El-Baz, managing director of an export company who added that African embassies in Egypt have never provided enough information on the markets or potential business partners in the region. Other events will bring forth both governmental figures and the private sector to discuss some issues of major importance such as transportation, export and import, as well as peace and security issues which are believed to have a direct impact on trade and investment opportunities in the region. "For the last 10 years, COMESA has made tremendous efforts to encourage trade; however, more is still to be done for better trade performance," said Mwencha during his meeting with the Egyptian Businessmen Association (EBA), adding that while inter-COMESA trade is growing at 22 per cent a year, the COMESA market has also become the leading destination for EU agricultural products. Egypt is among the 11 COMESA countries that signed a free trade agreement in October 2000 to facilitate trade movement and remove obstacles related to the issuance of certificates of origin, taxes and custom fees. "Nevertheless, more coordination is still needed. Member states still import from other countries what is available with the COMESA region," said Mwencha. For example, many of the COMESA countries satisfy their demand for fertilisers, cement and pharmaceuticals from countries other than Egypt, while Egypt seeks cereals from producers outside of the COMESA. Mwencha also noted that Egypt has many capable construction companies which offer services that are badly needed in a number of member states. "The way forward is to continue to integrate ourselves into one effective economic unit," commented Mwencha, adding that it has become clear that trade will be concentrated in regional blocks as the case is with the EU. The COMESA was formed in 1993 to promote trade relations, aspiring towards eventual complete economic integration among its 20 member states. The population within the COMESA region is 370 million, with a combined GNP estimated at almost $165 billion. Egypt joined the COMESA in 1998. Egyptian exports to the Market has increased from $48 million in 2000 to $64 million in 2002. The main products include pharmaceuticals, tires, iron and steel, cement, ceramics, construction materials and textiles. In the meantime, Egyptian imports from COMESA markets have jumped from $188 million in 2000 to $300 million in 2002. Imports are mainly agricultural produce such as tea, tobacco and raw cotton. In addition to increasing trade, one of the main tasks of the general secretariat of the COMESA is also to encourage investment between member states. "Today's economy can not depend solely on trade. We'd like to see more cooperation in a variety of sectors such as transportation, services and telecommunications," said Mwencha. To fulfil this target, the COMESA secretariat has agreed with the General Authority for Investment (GAFI) to form the Regional Investment Agency with an aim to provide information about the resources available in each country, the potential investment projects and to identify areas of cooperation to the business community. "This is one big step forward because we simply do not know who our partners are or how to read the different markets," commented El-Baz. The lack of information, however, is not the only factor impeding easy trade and investment flow among the COMESA countries. There remains more serious issues related to a shortage of regular transport facilities and the lack of convenient payment techniques, in addition to the security status in many of the COMESA countries, which in some cases makes it almost impossible for export products to safely arrive to their final destination. "The only way is to move forward," said Mwencha.
