Eighteen out of 21 COMESA Member States have so far nominated focal point persons to be responsible for management of the COMESA Online Trade Portal and coordinate with national stakeholders to compile information needed to update the live platform at the country level.

The Platform was approved by the Council of Ministers in May 2020, but activation has delayed owing to slow pace of  nomination of the  Member States focal points.

The platform is expected to serve as a business facilitation solution for the region during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Through the platform, Member States will be able to share information on availability of products and their potential to produce and supply all different types of goods.

This is especially the case for essential products and food supplies as well as connecting buyers to suppliers of goods thereby promoting and fostering regional intra-COMESA trade. The platform will also be ideal for small-scale cross-border traders and SMEs to have access to market information and linking producers, sellers and buyers.

Speaking at the opening of a webinar on the platform for the COMESA/Member States on Thursday 4th March 2021, Assistant Secretary General for Programmes, Dr Kipyego Cheluget urged the remaining countries to complete the nomination process.

“We are concerned about the slow pace of implementation of this activity despite its potentials to restore businesses and create the much-needed jobs in our region,” Dr Cheluget said. “Further delays only amount to increasing the devastating effects of the pandemic.”

He added that Member States needs to take ownership of the platform, as it has great potential to support increased intra-regional trade not only during the pandemic and beyond.

In the last four months, the Secretariat has trained all the nominated focal points and also provided demand-driven capacity building to ensure they are well equipped to manage and coordinate implementation of the Platform at National level. This is aimed at ensuring that multiple stakeholders, including private sector players can use the platform.

According to Dr Cheluget, the successful implementation of the platform is an important step towards realization of COMESA Digital Free Trade Area initiatives. He called on the business fraternity in particular to take advantage of the platform to showcase their products to the wider region using digital trade solutions.

Participants were taken through the functionalities of the platform, roles and responsibilities of Member States/stakeholders including the business people.