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COMESA weekly newsletter eThis bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Public Relations Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat. For Feedback: pr@comesa.int

Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center , Ben Bella Road P.O. Box 30051, 260 1 229 725, 260 1 225 107

www.comesa.int; email: e-COMESA@comesa.int

Issue #: 357 - 19th October 2012

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The Vice-President of Zambia, Dr Guy Scott, has urged the

Member States to ensure that the legal instruments that are agreed upon enter into force, by having the requisite signatures and ratifications. “I urge you to ensure that the decisions taken by the Council of Ministers are implemented. During this meeting, consider the establishment of a mechanism within your structures to oversee the domestication and transposition of legal instruments of decisions taken at the regional level,” he said. He was officiating at the opening of the 16th Meeting of Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General of COMESA, which took place at Mulungushi Conference Centre, Lusaka on 18 October 2012. He added that the Treaty establishing COMESA is a strong legal foundation, which was drafted by our founding forefathers as the constitution of the people of the region, and it is key to achieving regional economic

integration. “As custodians of the law, the Ministers of Justice and Attorneys-General have to come up with sound legal instruments, which will help us in our quest to emancipate over 450 million people out of poverty by delivering effective and comprehensive legal instruments for our economic development.”“Any society that is not based on the rule of law creates a recipe for anarchy as seen in many African states. We are privileged to have the Court of Justice whose responsibility it is to ensure that the organisation’s operations are in accordance with the Treaty,” Dr Scott said. He added that COMESA has to come up with modalities of addressing the challenges that the Court of Justice is facing so that we can have an effective and credible judicial system of dispute regulation that will assure potential investors of the safety of our regional market.“We should also take time to

Institutional mechanisms a prerequisite for the timely implementation of COMESA decisions

continuously examine and develop legal instruments that will ensure that intra-COMESA trade contributes to poverty alleviation and wealth creation for our people. We can only do this when we have a free and fair trading regime where anti-competitive practices and behaviour are not tolerated. The operational rules of the COMESA Competition Commission will hopefully enhance fair competition in our trade regime,” Dr Scott concluded.The Vice-President welcomed the delegates to Zambia which he referred to as “the home to the mighty Victoria Falls, and the champions of the African football, the Chipolopolo boys”. Speaking at the same meeting, the Secretary-General, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya said that institutional mechanisms are required if the Member States are to implement the decisions taken by COMESA’s Policy Organs, in a timely manner. “It is assumed that once decisions have been taken they will be implemented yet this is

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unlikely to happen by accident as it requires that these legal instruments are mainstreamed into national programmes,” Mr Ngwenya said. “A survey of national development plans and annual programmes by Member States reveals that these instruments are not even mentioned hence the implementation does not take place.” He added that the Secretariat has observed that there is no common understanding of how the provisions of the Treaty should be implemented. “As envisaged by Article 10 of Chapter IV of the Treaty, it is our considered view that harmonization involves the adoption of legislation by the Common Market Institutions (Council and Authority) that should bring about changes in the internal legal systems of the Member States so as to contribute to a well functioning common market. I should emphasize that the aim is not simply to eliminate disparities between the national legal systems. For example, the existence of wide disparities in some legal fields such as that of criminal offences against the person or against property, are unlikely to affect the operations of COMESA. Harmonization may be justifiable even in cases where all Member States have the same rule on a certain matter. The case in point is that efficient intra-COMESA trade may be impeded if the importing Member State insists on imposing its own health controls although equivalent standards of animal hygiene are observed in the

exporting Member State.” Mr Ngwenya said that the measures for harmonization in COMESA are normally adopted in the form of directives, which means that although the directive is binding, it is left to each national authority to take whatever legislative steps may be necessary in order to bring the situation about. “It is against this background that I urge the Ministries of Justice and Attorneys-General to expeditiously put in place measures to implement all directives that have been adopted.” On the jurisdiction of the COMESA Court of Justice, the Secretary-General said that the institution can adjudicate upon all matters which may be referred to it pursuant to the Treaty. He, however, said that regarding references to the Court there are two contradictory provisions: the references by Member States and also references by legal and natural persons, which are handled differently. He urged the Ministers of Justice to review the provisions of the Treaty to ensure that they are consistent with the provisions of Article 23. The meeting also considered the draft legal instruments on the development of Harmonized Consumer Price Indices to facilitate the capturing of trade data and statistics, the regulations on trade in seed, the progress report of the COMESA Court of Justice and the COMESA Competition Commission regulations.

Ngwenya has said that COMESA is committed to partnerships with

grassroots organizations such as World Vision Kenya (WVK) in a bid to grow the SMEs in the region. At the official launch of the COMESA-WVK partnership in Nairobi on 28 September 2012, Mr Ngwenya highlighted the challenges COMESA is facing with regional integration in respect to the development model. “Most of the engagement has been at the governments/bureaucratic levels with little engagement of the small and micro enterprises, which are quite important for the growth of national economies. Our partnership with WVK who are working at the grassroots will help organize the local business clusters,” he said. He added that the initial pilot phase of the project will be six months upon whose completion the lessons learnt can be used to upscale the project to other areas and to other sectors. He said COMESA will play a key role in bringing the different government ministries on board to ensure that public procurement processes consider products from the micro and small enterprises. “COMESA is closely working with the ministry responsible for industrialisation in Kenya, which is keen to support the clothing and textile sub-sector. I will also bring on board the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation who will support in capacity building for the cotton and textile SMEs to get fully operational.” The Secretary-General

Mr Ngwenya speaking at the same meeting

Engagement with grassroots organisations key to SME developmentSecretary-general, Mr Sindiso

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The Vice-President of the Republic of Zambia, Dr Guy Scott, has said that for bilateral arrangements to work, controls at the border posts need to be coordinated to enable all the authorities concerned to work together to define priorities and establish common risk profiles. Speaking during the official opening of the Fifth Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Immigration in the COMESA region at Mulungushi International Conference Centre on 11 October 2012, Vice-President Scott said in a speech read for him by Home Affairs Minister, Edgar Lungu that it is vital for all agencies to share information, especially in relation to international crimes, terrorism, drug smuggling and human trafficking networks. Dr Scott said traders have to declare their good to customs officers who carry out an initial risk analysis as this will allow for centralized data collection and the simplification of administrative procedures for the traders. “Relevant information or intelligence should be shared between the agencies at the central level and the border control posts so that work can be made easier for the officers,” he said.“I do note that your meeting will also discuss interagency cooperation on immigration matters and I am pleased to learn that most Member States, Zambia inclusive have already completed the computerization of visa processing at major points of entry which is an important step towards inter-agency cooperation on immigration matters.” Speaking at the same function, Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy said in

Coordinated border control essential for the region

order for COMESA to be able to deepen the integration agenda, there is need to look at the COMESA programme on the free movement of persons as a trade facilitation measure. Ambassador El-Hussainy said there is therefore an urgent need to implement fully the Protocol on the Gradual Relaxation and Eventual Relaxation of visa which is in force. “We call upon Member States to put more signatures and ratification on the Protocol on Free Movement of Persons, Service Labour and Right of Establishment,” Ambassador El-Hussainy said. “I have all the confidence that through your decisions in this meeting, you shall be able to guide us on practical steps that will encourage more Member States to join the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda and Zimbabwe which have already signed the Protocol and as in the case of Burundi, ratify it as well.” She said that COMESA’s economic integration has made significant progress in contributing to poverty alleviation in the region through trade and investment. “It is, therefore, important that we put more efforts into addressing aspects of free movement of persons such as information sharing and the development of a regional database for migration management in the region. We also need to address negative aspects of migration such as organized transnational crimes, top of which is human trafficking and smuggling,” she said. The recommendations of the Ministers’ meeting will be presented for approval to the Council of Ministers’ meeting in Kampala, Uganda, in

The Seychelles government has

been hailed by gender experts

and activists for allowing women to

play key roles in development.

The local media has also been

ranked second in a study that places

the Lesotho media as the one that

most listens to the voices of women.

The above came to light

during a two-day course in Mauritius

at which Loga Virahsawmy, the

Gender Links Director of the

Francophone Office based in

Mauritius made positive remarks

about the achievements of Seychelles

and other Member States, in gender

empowerment.

“Seychelles leadership

clearly has a political commitment in

recognising the role women can play

in development,” said Ms Virahsawmy

(above) at the workshop at the Gold

Crest Hotel.

The director said a study

showed Lesotho media quotes women

in 37 percent of the news items they

broadcast or print, while Seychelles

involves 31 percent in a situation

where the region’s other media talks

to only 17 percent of women in the

issues they highlight.

“Women need to be listened

to especially in issues involving

them,” said Ms Virahsawmy.

While male editors in the

southern African region predominate

the media, Seychelles was said to be

faring well where the percentages

between men and women nearly

balance.

Seychelles hailed for recognising women(Adopted from Seychelles Nation online)

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COMWARN vital for economic development - Nagla

COMESA, by using its conflict and early warning system has extracted global historical data along 54 structural indicators that work together to affect the peace and conflict dynamics in the region. This was said during the official opening of the Twelfth Meeting of the COMESA Committee on Peace and Security at Mulungushi International Conference Center in Lusaka, by the Assistant Secretary-General, Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy. She added that COMESA is beginning to see the potential of COMWARN to support economic developments while at the same time mitigating conflict. “For example, this data highlights that over the last two decades, there has been a significant rural to urban migration in the COMESA region with 70 percent of the people living in rural areas in 1991 compared to 64.8 percent in

2010,” she said. “This is an average figure with some countries like Zambia and Mauritius showing slight urban to rural migration. At the same time, during that same period, there has been an increase in arable land use in the region, from an average of 15.3 percent to 17.9 percent with a big increase reflected between 2007 and 2009 to coincide with the rise in commodity prices during that period.” A mbassador El-Hussainy said that by analysing the empirically defined linkages to conflict, one can already start to see an entry point for intervention especially as the above statistics are linked to the acquisition of large pieces of arable land from investors from United Arab Emirates, South Korea, India, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and China. She said this alerts COMESA as a regional body to get more

concerned with the increase in foreign investors in the region, because if this is coupled with the effects of climate change, it could lead to serious land pressures and resource conflicts. “Many of these factors change gradually over time but when considered together then the impact can be quite significant and we may need to start looking for ways to address these issues before they break out’, she concluded. The meeting took place on 11 October 2012.

From left: Egypian Ambassor to Zambia Salah El-Sadek, Ambassador Nagla El-Hussainy and the Judge President Nzambia Kitonga

appreciated WVK’s value chain analysis of the cassava clusters. He asked them to share the outcome of the analysis with COMESA to see how the work can be supported within the region. The National Director, WVK, Mr Girma Begashaw assured COMESA of their organization’s good will towards the ensuring the success of the project and also re-affirmed the organization’s commitment to collaborations and partnerships in its work. Giving the example of the resilience building project, Girma affirmed that World Vision is committed both at the country and at the regional level to ensure the business clusters work. “WVK interacts and works towards complementing government activities. I am excited about the opportunity of the partnership with COMESA.” The Secretary-General said a grant of US $50,000 will be given to WVK towards the textile and clothing pilot project for a period of six months, starting October 2012.

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COMESA and NEPAD have launched the flagship Sustainable

Land Management Project (SLMP) with a call on Member States to embrace climate resilient agricultural practices that will help reduce poverty in the region by 2015.Speaking during the launch of the project which was held at the African Institute for Capacity Development (AICAD) in Nairobi, Kenya on 15 October 2012, Deputy CAADP Coordinator at the COMESA Secretariat, Dr Nalishebo Meebelo, said COMESA is pleased to partner with NEPAD’s Planning and Coordinating Agency (NPCA) in various initiatives.“We are very optimistic that with such partnerships the region will improve food security, address climate change, and ultimately improve the lives and livelihoods of millions of people who today live in poverty.”“We also need to be mindful that addressing land degradation would contribute significantly to attaining the Millennium Development Goals of

poverty reduction and environmental sustainability,” she said.Dr Meebelo further said land degradation and its associated problems continue to be a major challenge facing the region. “It undermines the structure and function of ecological systems, and put at risk the livelihoods, economic wellbeing, and nutritional status of more than 1 billion people in developing countries,” Dr Meebelo said.“Many of us have seen firsthand the manifestations of this phenomenon in our day to day activities and there is an urgent need to take action to deal decisively with the range of individual, institutional and systemic capacity constraints that we face.”She said issues of sustainable land and water management are at the core of CAADP implementation. “Founded on the recognition of the importance of sustainable land management and water strategies in the efforts of improving agricultural

COMESA and NEPAD launch sustainable land management project

productivity, COMESA did not hesitate to partner with NPCA to implement the Project that we are about to launch today,” she concluded.Speaking at the same function, Terrafrica Project Coordinator at NEPAD, Mr Ousmane Djibo said the project will deliver in the three main activities of: regional coalition building, knowledge sharing, and finally the provision of support to country investment planning.“This project will help aggregate the key, sustainable land and water management and monitoring and evaluation indicators at the regional level and enable us share best practices,” Mr Djibo said.“As NEPAD we are very pleased with COMESA for fast tracking the project through the CAADP and we are happy to see the launch take place today.”The project offers institutional support to NEPAD and other Sub-Saharan RECs in the area of sustainable land management.

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The Australian High Commissioner to Zambia,

His Excellency Matthew Neuhaus, presented his letter of accreditation to the Secretary-general, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, on Wednesday, 17 October 2012. At the presentation, Mr Neuhaus said that he was delighted to be Australia’s first Special representative to COMESA. He noted that the occasion was another important step in Australia’s growing engagement with the African continent. “I acknowledge COMESA’s role in economic integration which is important for driving economic growth and development in the region,” he said. The Secretary-General, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, welcomed Mr Neuhaus to COMESA and highlighted the continuous, fruitful co-operation between Australia and Africa.

He said that Australia’s trade with Africa has grown steadily over the last decade at an annual average rate of 6.1 percent, and Australia’s total merchandise trade with Africa was valued at $5.8 billion in 2009-2010. “Australia has significant and growing interests in Africa’s resource sector with Australian companies having an estimated current and prospective investment of more than US $20 billion in the region. As of January 2011, more than 200 Australian resource companies had nearly 600 projects spread across 42 African countries,” Mr Ngwenya said. “We are also aware that Australia provided US $200.9 million in 2010-2011 in development assistance to the continent, an increase of 23 percent over the previous year,” he added.

Australia accredited to COMESA Mr Ngwenya also applauded the Australian Government’s commitment to increasing its total Official Development Assistance to 0.5 percent of gross national income (GNI) by 2015–2016 and the GNI share going to least developed countries. “I particularly commend the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between Australia and Africa, in New York on 23 September 2010. The areas of cooperation comprise, among others: trade and investment, peace and security with humanitarian assistance, achievement of Millennium Development Goals, agriculture and food security, democracy, governance and human rights, and climate change. These programmes constitute the main concerns for COMESA and as a Regional Economic Community considered a major building block of the African Union, we expect to fully and efficiently exploit this Memorandum,” he concluded. Mr Ngwenya congratulated the Australian High Commissioner upon his appointment and extended best wishes to him in the new responsibilities. Australia supports COMESA’s Trading for Peace Programme, and the Alliance for Commodity Trade in eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA).

His Excellency Matthew Neuhaus and Mr Ngwenya at the presentation