British High Commissioner to Zambia, H.E Nicholas Woolley paid a courtesy call on the COMESA Secretary General Her Excellency Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, Thursday 25 June 2020. Their discussions centred on cooperation between the UK and COMESA trade, agriculture and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. The High Commissioner said UK was keen to support COMESA programmes…
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As the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to unfold in the region, countries implementing the COMESA Simplified Trade Regime (STR) are back on the drawing board to figure out how this successful model will be sustained. The COMESA-STR was introduced to simplify the procedure for clearing goods through Customs and to enable the small-scale…
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COMESA will continue using eminent personalities from the region in addressing conflicts and entrenching good governance. Speaking when she addressed members of the COMESA Committee of Elders, Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe said the economic potential in the region can only be harnessed in an environment of peace and stability, hence the important role of the…
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Madagascar recorded a 26% drop in imports in April compared to March 2020, according to a snapshot survey undertaken by the Statistics Unit at the Secretariat. The survey indicated that four key border posts, Antanimena, Tamatave-Pétrole, Ivato-Aéroport, Mamory-Aéroport recorded declines of 35%, 59%, 36% and 80% respectively. Tamatave-Port was the only one to record a…
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With the onset of COVID-19 in the region, countries in the region responded in three ways: those that put in place restrictive measures to prevent and contain the spread of COVID-19, those that adopted moderate restrictions, and those that opted to assess the situation first before taking response decisions. Countries that enforced strict measures from…
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Measures in COMESA MS in Response to Covid -19 Vol 11
Fifteen COMESA Member States are ready to start piloting the COMESA Electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO) System. The eCO is one of the latest tools developed under the COMESA Digital Free Trade Area (DFTA) initiative. Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe have indicated their…
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Over the last seven days, the number of COVID-19 cases in the region have experienced a surge as countries conduct mass testing. The number of recoveries are also expected to increase, based on the observation by experts, that 80% of COVID-19 infected people exhibit mild symptoms which are easy to manage. Read more COVID-19 in…
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COMESA has engaged with the World Bank to extend the duration of the implementation period of the Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project (GLTFP) by one year. The no-cost extension is expected to make up for lost implementation time during the Covid-19 restrictions on movement. The four-year GLTFP is poised to end in December this year…
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The COMESA regional economy is projected to grow at a paltry 0.6% this year down from 5.2% recorded in 2019 and 6.0% in 2018. The slight dip in 2019 was attributed to lower commodity prices while the expected slump in 2020 will result from the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic suggesting a deeper economic…
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