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COMESA weekly newsletter eThis bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Corporate Communications 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, +260 211 229 725, +260 211 225 107

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

Issue #: 516_ 28th April 2017

AU HQ: Venue of the 18th COMESA Summit

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Microsoft 4Afrika hands-over its IP Hub to COMESA

80% more knowledge-based, technological and creative outputs, and are 68% more likely to have supportive business climates.

In addition to handing over the IP Hub, Microsoft 4Afrika continues to collaborate with IP authorities in COMESA member states to automate their IP registration processes.

Mr Louis Otieno of Microsoft 4Africa (L) and Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya

Microsoft 4Afrika has transferred full ownership and management of its IP Hub

to the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), expanding its reach to more African countries in an effort to enable more cross-border trade.

The IP Hub, which Microsoft 4Afrika developed and launched in 2014, is an online learning resource designed to drive awareness around Intellectual Property (IP) rights. Through a series of modules, it educates innovators on the ins and outs of copyright, trademarks, patents and general IP protection.

The COMESA IP Hub is now live and accessible at http://iphub.comesa.int/

“The COMESA IP Hub is a concerted effort between the public and private sector for the development of a regional platform that can contribute to a strengthened national IP protection system, in a manner that promotes innovation, business development and trade,” says Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, COMESA Secretary General. “The value of IP and IP protection has not yet been fully utilized within the region. This day marks a shift in our direction as the COMESA region, towards the realization of the need to protect IP, with copyright protection being the initial step.”

Louis Otieno, Corporate Affairs Director at Microsoft 4Afrika, adds: “We developed the IP Hub with the promise to pilot it and then hand it over to local governments and authorities. This is therefore an exciting milestone for us, especially as we commemorate the 17th annual World IP Day.”

This year’s World IP Day, took place on 26 April, and focused on how IP systems can support innovation that improves lives. According to the new 2017 U.S. Chamber International IP Index, economies with robust IP protection see

COMESA and Microsoft are also working together to enable the creation of new IP. By promoting a trusted cloud infrastructure – underpinned by relevant policies around cybersecurity and data privacy – the two organizations hope to encourage more people to use cloud technology, develop their own IP and ultimately participate in trade and e-commerce across

News SMS tool to address trade barriers launched

A newly designed Short Messaging Service for reporting trade barriers within the tripartite

regional economic blocs has been launched. The SMS will supplement the current web based online system for reporting, monitoring and elimination of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) used by

COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC).

The Tripartite online reporting system is a real-time, mechanism for reporting, processing,

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The COMESA Appellate Division Court sitting in Lusaka

monitoring and resolving NTBs and is available on www.tradebarriers.org. It was operationalised in November 2010.

The Online mechanism has been instrumental in assisting the region to understand the kind, frequency and category of NTBs that are encountered by economic operators as they are doing their business in the tripartite region. These include road blocks, delays in processing export/import documentations, permits, etc

The SMS tool is now being rolled out to COMESA Member States as part of capacity building and empowerment to manage NTBs and fast tracking their removal. Economic operators who encounter NTBs will be able to send an SMS to the central number which will in turn relay messages to identified Focal Points numbers and the current online reporting system.

The Union of the Comoros is the first country to launch the new NTB SMS tool on 21 April 2017 during a ceremony presided over by the Director General of Customs Mr Kamalidini Souef, on behalf of the Vice President in charge of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Mr Djaffar Ahmed Said Hassan. The SMS tool was first launched in 2013 in Zambia to facilitate a diverse spectrum of economic operators, especially the informal and small scale traders who may not have access to the internet. However, the service faced implementation difficulties owing to its centralized system.

“At the time the design of the SMS reporting too, there was a central number to which the economic operators in different countries could send the SMS messages to report the trade obstacles that they could have encountered,” Mr Tasara Muzorori, Senior Trade Officer in COMESA said. This was expensive for the economic operators as it involved incurring roaming charges.

“It was also a challenge to publicise that central number to the relevant players in each of the countries as the foreign numbers did not identify with local users,” Mr Muzorori said. “Further, the system was faced with sustainability challenges as it was operated outside the National NTBs structures thereby requiring continued donor support to cater for administration costs.”

This led to the re-design of the SMS system whereby each country installs and operates the toll using a central National number at a national level to which messages on trade obstacles can be sent thus eliminating roaming charges.The re-designing of the SMS reporting tool was achieved through support from the African Development Bank funded Tripartite Capacity Building programme. The new SMS tool is hosted and operated by National Focal Points in the individual Tripartite Countries.

The Appellate division of the COMESA Court of Justice has ruled that it has no jurisdiction

over a case involving the Government of Malawi and the Malawi Mobile Company.

In the ruling delivered in Lusaka, Zambia, Sunday 23 April 2017, the Appellate Court overturned a decision made by the First Instance Court in 2015 stating that the regional court has jurisdiction to hear the case. The judges ruled that the COMESA Court is not a supranational Court sitting on appeal on decisions of national Courts under domestic law which are not related to the COMESA Treaty.

The matter before the Appellate Division was an appeal filed by the government of Malawi challenging a ruling made in 2015 by the Court of First Instance stating that the regional court has jurisdiction to hear the case.

In 2005, Malawi Mobile Company (MML) had sued the Malawi Government and its agency the Malawi Communication Regulatory Authority (MACRA) for revoking its license on the grounds that the company had failed to fulfill its obligations under an agreement entered between the parties in 2002. Under the said Agreement, the MML was required to roll out public mobile radio telephone services in

COMESA Court has no jurisdiction over the Malawi telecoms case

the country for a period of fifteen years.The case was heard in the Commercial division of the High Court of Malawi.

In its judgment, the High Court ruled in favour of MML in respect of loss of profit to the tune of USD 66,850.000 plus costs of the suit. However, the Government and MACRA successfully appealed in the Malawi Supreme Court of Appeal which set aside the judgment of the High Court. This led the MML to seek redress in the CCJ

Under Article 26 of the COMESA Treaty, the CCJ has jurisdiction to hear a reference from a legal or natural person resident in a Member State concerning the legality of any act, regulation, directive or decision of the COMESA Council or of a Member state on the grounds of unlawfulness or infringement of Treaty provisions. Such reference can only be made where local remedies in the national courts or tribunals have been exhausted.

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RISM Coordinator Mrs Hope Situmbeko

Participants attending the 3rd Gender training on programming

A Grant Management Manual that will guide the implementation of project support under the

COMESA Regional Integration Support Mechanism (RISM) programme has been launched.

The launch was conducted at the COMESA Secretariat during the opening of a three day regional workshop attended by representatives from 10 member States that are implementing the various COMESA Adjustment Facility/ RISM projects.

The COMESA Adjustment Facility (CAF) is funded through the 9th and 10th European Development Fund (EDF) with a total budget of € 111 million available to Member States to support improved implementation of regional programmes at the

COMESA launches Grants Management Manual

national level.

The RISM Coordinator, Mrs. Hope Situmbeko said the specific objective of the manual was to set down procedures which will facilitate sound, efficient, accurate, possible to track and auditable actions, to be adopted by grant beneficiary institutions receiving project support under the RISM programme.

She said: “The manual will be useful in providing standardized procurement procedures for projects funded under COMESA that use EDF grant implementation modalities. In addition, it presents modifications that have been adapted to suit the context in which the projects shall be implemented.”

analytical skills for gender mainstreaming during programme and project planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting in member States and Secretariat.

Among others, the manual highlights the roles and responsibilities of the key actors in implementing the grants. It provides a simplified outline of finance and operation procedures to be applied and the checklists and templates that will assist with compliance with the stated procedures. It also outlines the files and documents needed for the financial management, implementation and administration of grant projects at COMESA and project levels.

In recognition of the source of funding of the RISM programme, Mrs Situmbeko stated that implementing institutions could use their own procedures provided that they are positively assessed by the EU and found to be adequate, reliable and consistent with international standards and practices.

She further explained that for Member States that are not eligible to use their own procedures or elect to use the project approach, the RISM programme provides for the use of the COMESA financial rules and regulations. This is in addition to Procurement Rules and Regulations and Implementation Procedures which may be issued by the Secretary General, whenever required. Countries that participated in the workshop were Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DRC, Madagascar, Malawi, Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The first and second training were held in July and November 2015 in Nairobi, Kenya and Lusaka, Zambia respectively. So far Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Swaziland, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe have been trained.

Speaking during the opening of the workshop, the Director of the Gender and Social Affairs in COMESA, Mrs Beatrice Hamusonde urged member States to optimally utilize the trainers to mainstream gender in their programmes.

“This training is part of efforts for us to entrench gender in regional integration both at the Member State and the Secretariat level,” she said. The training was sponsored by USAID East African Regional Office in Kenya and attracted participation from Comoros, Djibouti, DRC, Eritrea, Madagascar, Malawi and COMESA Secretariat.

The 3rd Training of Trainer’s workshop on gender programming for high level professionals from

Member States and the Secretariat took place in Kafue, Zambia from 24 – 27 April, 2017. The purpose of the training was to inculcate

Gender programming training for member States and Secretariat

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COMESA weekly newslettere

Turkish Ambassador to Zambia H.E. Sebnem Incesu has been accredited as Special

Representative of Turkey to COMESA. This followed her presentation of the Letter of Credence to the Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya in Lusaka, Monday 24th April 2017.During the brief ceremony at the COMESA Secretariat, Ambassador Insesu pledged to continue deepening the warm relations that currently exist between Turkey and the regional bloc.

Secretary General highlighted some of the major developments spearheaded by Turkey in the continent including the signing of trade and economic cooperation agreements with 38 African countries and establishing business councils with 19 sub-Saharan African countries.“COMESA will soon be signing a MoU with the Foreign Economic Relations Board of Turkey during the Turkey-Africa Ministers of Agriculture meeting in Antalya planned for 27 to 28th April this year,” Mr Ngwenya added.

He said that Turkey’s open policy to Africa dates back to the Action Plan adopted in 1998. Since then key milestones have been achieved regarding strengthening cooperation. Two Turkey-Africa

cooperation summits have been held and the third one is expected in 2019. The total Turkish investment in Africa is estimated at US$6.2 billion while bilateral trade was at US$17.5 billion in 2015.

Turkey has also accredited five special representatives in different Regional Economic Communities namely the East African Community

Turkish Ambassador accredited to COMESA

(EAC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and now COMESA.

Turkish Airlines has also become a major international airline connecting the African continent to the world with flights to 48 destinations in 31 countries.

Ambassador Sebnem Incesu presenting her credentials to the Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya

A COMESA delegation headed by the Assistant Secretary General for Programmes, Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget attended the annual Spring Meetings of the World Bank and International Monitory Fund in Washington DC from April 17th to 23rd.

The delegation met with the United States Trade Representative for Africa (USTR) Mrs Constance Hamilton. Discussions centered on the status of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) and the way forward. Matters on the COMESA Regional and National AGOA Strategy were also discussed in-depth. The main issue was how COMESA can help the ineligible countries to enter or re-enter the AGOA Ambassador Kipyego Cheluget with Dr. Constance A Hamilton; Deputy Assistant – US

Trade Representative for Africa

COMESA attends Bretton Woods Institutions’ Meetings with conformity with the AGOA criteria eligibility.

The second meeting was at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The delegation met with the Acting Assistant Administrator, Mrs Cheryl Anderson and other USAID officials. Mrs Anderson said USAID will be working with a leaner budget for the coming years and that may affect the support to their regional offices.

“USAID will be more geared towards results and impact for the foreign assistance it is providing,” Mrs Anderson said. Hence COMESA has to make the best out of the new Regional Development Objective Grant Agreement that was signed in September 2016.

Members of the delegation included the COMESA-USAID Programme Coordinator, Mr Walter Talma, Chief Resources Mobilization and International Corporation Mr Deogratias Kamweya and Senior Trade Policy Advisor Mr Yusuf Abdalla.

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COMOROS is first to implement the new NTB reporting tool

COMOROS has become the first country in the tripartite region to launch a Short

Messaging Service for reporting Non-Tariff Barriers to regional trade.

Stakeholders in the country can now report all trading obstacles using a local number +2 69 322 8528 hosted in the Comoros Chamber of Commerce, where the smart phone and the local central number is hosted.

The Short Messaging Service (SMS) for Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) which is supported by the COMESA Regional Integration Support Mechanism programme will be operated by five appointed focal points. These include the Ministry of Foreign Trade, the Chamber of Agriculture, the Department of Customs and the Chamber of Commerce.

The tool was officially launched by the Director General of Customs Mr Kamalidini Souef on behalf the Vice President in charge of the Economy and Foreign Trade, Mr Djaffar Ahmed Said Hassan on April 21, 2017 in the Capital, Moroni.

Delegates attending the launch of the NTB SMS reporting tool in Moroni, Comoros

“I am very happy that the COMESA Secretariat and the Tripartite Component Manager on NTBs and Non-Tariff Measures have worked with Comoros diligently to enable the launch to take place.”The launch followed a stakeholders training workshop on NTBs conducted in Moroni by the COMESA Secretariat and the NTB Component Manager from 28 February to 3 March 2017. Among its key recommendations was that the launch of the new SMS tool.

Mr Hassan said the SMS tool will enable Comoros to deal with a wide range of trade obstacles faced by businesspeople, especially the small scale traders as they conduct their business.

“Comoros is more than determined to eliminate the obstacles to trade and enhance regional integration spearheaded by COMESA,” he said and stressed the need for stakeholders to utilize the tool effectively. He said a National Monitoring Committee for NTBs will be set up.

Representing the COMESA Secretariat, Senior Trade Officer, Mr Tasara Muzorori commended Comoros for being the first country to launch the SMS NTB reporting tool and encouraged stakeholders to use it.

The launch was witnessed by 35 stakeholders drawn from the public and private sectors of Comoros.

the SMS tool will enable

Comoros to deal with

a wide range of trade

obstacles faced by

businesspeople, especially

the small scale traders as

they conduct their business.

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COMESA weekly newslettere

Senior officials and key anti-money laundering stakeholders from the Federal

Government of Somalia and the Member States of Puntland, Jubbaland and Galmudug pledged to join the fight against money laundering.

This follows three-day sensitization workshop in Djibouti from 19th to 21st April 2017 aimed at creating awareness amongst reporting entities and government agencies.

The workshop, which brought together 22 participants was organized by COMESA in collaboration with IGAD, was a part of a larger Regional Maritime Security Programme (MASE), which is implemented by four regional bodies supported by the European Union under the 10th European Development Fund. The event helped participants to develop strategies and identify actions to be

undertaken in their respective States. These revolved around establishing informal focal points in the respective states to liaise with the Financial Intelligence Units at the Federal Government as well as commitments towards wider sensitization of anti-money laundering issues.

COMESA MASE programme has managed to extend its support to nine out of the ten core countries supported by the programme. However, little success has been realized in Somalia due to a combination of factors, which include the insecurity as well as the elections which have suffered several postponements.

“The holding of the workshop was therefore seen as a very positive achievement of the programme, especially as the larger MASE programme was developed to combat Maritime piracy off the Coast of Somalia,” the Head of Peace and Governance Programme at

Somalia stakeholders pledge to fight money laundering

Delegates attending anti money laundering workshop in Djibouti

COMESA Ms Elizabeth Mutunga said. The event provides an opportunity for the participants to share experiences on the complex situation that exists in Somalia such as the Hawala system of money transfer, which is unique to country, and which has often been seen as a risk factor in the fight against money laundering.

The participants were also taken through issues around piracy, money laundering and terrorist financing; and the stages of money laundering.

These included examples of basic offences of money laundering and details on the international standards as set by the Financial Action Task Force, which guide the fight against money laundering, terrorist financing and financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.