Bujumbura, Burundi, August 13,2024: The countdown to the 23rd COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit has officially begun with the signing of the Host Agreement between the Government of Burundi and the COMESA Secretariat.
Burundi’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, Ambassador Albert Shingiro, and COMESA Secretary General, Chileshe Kapwepwe, signed the agreement in Bujumbura, Tuesday 13 August 2024. The ceremony was attended by the Minister of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Madame Marie Chantal Nijimbere and senior officials from the Government and COMESA.
The Summit will take place on October 31, 2024, in Bujumbura. Its agenda will include a review of the state of COMESA integration, the priority issues on programmes and activities and reports from the Council of Ministers and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and a Declaration from the COMESA Business forum.
This year’s Summit will be anchored on the theme, “Accelerating Regional Integration through the Development of Regional Value Chains in Climate Resilient Agriculture, Mining, and Tourism.“
“This theme acknowledges the need to tackle many of the challenges that are being faced by our continent, especially on climate resilient agriculture, regional value addition to move away from the export of raw materials and the need to create additional wealth and jobs, especially in support of the growing sectors such as mining and tourism,” Ms Kapwepwe explained in a press a press conference after the signing.
Minister Shingiro said the focus on agriculture, mining, and tourism was aligned with Burundi national development plan. He cited the promotion of climate smart agriculture, which is resilient to climate change as a key focus for Burundi.
During the forthcoming Summit, President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, will take over chairmanship of COMESA from President Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia and henceforth Burundi will be chairing COMESA technical and policy meetings. Hosting the COMESA Summit is expected to shift attention to Burundi thus positioning the country as an investment destination and attracting potential investors in agriculture, mining and tourism.
Business entities will get the opportunity to engage with potential partners during the Summit meetings through side events and exhibitions leading to increased trade and investments for the country in the long run and improving cross border investment and enhanced regional trade and integration. The country’s share of COMESA trade is also expected to rise.
In 2023, Burundi’s total exports to the region increased by 12% from US$ 69 million in 2022 to US$ 77 million. Over the same period however, Burundi‘s imports from the COMESA region decreased by 15% from US$ 212 million in 2022 to US$ 180 million in 2023.
Preceding the Summit, 0n 28 – 30 October will be the COMESA Business Forum, a high-level dialogue focusing on engaging public and private stakeholders on solutions that will support transformation of the COMESA region into competitive and sustainable growing economies for the expansion of regional and global trade and investment.
The dialogue will be led by a Ministerial Round Table, to discuss with private sector stakeholders on the measures to accelerate the economic growth of COMESA Member States, focusing value addition on agriculture, mining and tourism. The recommendations of the Business Forum will form part of the Forum’s Declaration to be presented to the Summit.
The last Summit was hosted by Zambia in June 2023.