Comesa

1. COMESA
Presented to: Dr. Hesham Mansour
By:
Ahmed Abd El Mounem
Ahmed Agha
Amr Omar
Hussein Khedr
Group: Eslsca 39-C

2. COMESA
Outline
• History
• Countries
• Vision
• Mission
• Objectives
• Programs
• Challenges
• KPIs from international business point of view
• Conclusion

3. History
• In 1965 (ECA) ministerial meeting
Recommendation to create an Economic Community of Eastern and Central African
states.
• In 1978 meeting of Ministers of Trade
Declaration of Intent and Commitment to the Establishment of a Preferential Trade
Area(PTA) for Eastern and Southern Africa.
• In December 1981
The Treaty establishing the PTA was signed
• November 1993
The Treaty establishing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa,
COMESA was signed
• December 1994
COMESA was ratified

4. Countries
Current (19)
• Burundi
• Comoros
• Congo, DR
• Djibouti
• Egypt
• Eritrea
• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Libya
• Madagascar
• Malawi
• Mauritius
• Rwanda
• Seychelles
• Sudan
• Swaziland
• Uganda
• Zambia
• Zimbabwe
Former (5)
• Lesotho (left in 1997)
• Mozambique (left in 1997)
• Tanzania (left September 2, 2000)
• Namibia (left May 2, 2004)
• Angola (Suspended itself in 2007)
Current
Former

5. Vision
COMESA’s Vision is to “be a fully integrated, internationally
competitive regional economic community with high
standards of living for all its people ready to merge into an
African Economic Community”

6. Mission
• Its Mission to “Endeavour to achieve sustainable
economic and social progress in all Member States
through increased co-operation and integration in all
fields of development particularly in trade, customs and
monetary affairs, transport, communication and
information, technology, industry and energy, gender,
agriculture, environment and natural resources.

7. Objectives
• Sustainable growth and development of the Member
States
• Development in all fields of economic activity in order to
raise the standards of living of the people.
• Cooperate in the promotion of peace and stability in
the region.
• Cooperate in strengthening the relations with the rest of
the world; and
• Contribute towards the establishment of the African
Economic Community.

8. Hussein

9. 9
COMESA Focal Programmes
In order to create an environment conducive to free trade
and investment into the region, COMESA promotes, as a
priority:
 trade liberalisation.
 trade facilitation.
 liberalisation of financial & monetary systems.
 investment promotion & private sector support.
 Science and technology.

10. 10
COMESA and STI
The COMESA Treaty Articles 127 and 128
deal with cooperation in the development of Science and
Technology and call for Member States to, among other
things :
• Build basic scientific and technological research
capabilities.
• Build conventional low and indigenous technologies in
craftsmanship & fabrication techniques.
• Effect appropriate reforms in primary, secondary and
tertiary education in respect of STI.

11. 11
COMESA and STI Contd...
• Develop a plan for the development of applied sciences in
agriculture, health, industry, energy, etc;
• Allocate a minimum of 1% of GNP on science and
technology as recommended under the Lagos Plan of Action.
• Cooperate with institutions working on STI.
• Ensure that research and development is closely inter-
linked with production units.

12.  CBC is a member based private sector institution of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern
Africa (COMESA).
 It was established to play the key role of ;
◦ a platform for policy advocacy in the development, progress of the private sector in their
respective economies in order to reduce the costs of doing business and increase
competitiveness in the region.
◦ Trade capacity building of the private sector in key sectors of Agriculture, Industry and
Services
◦ Improve business development services and business linkages across private sector in the
region.
◦ Boost Intra-regional trade for economic development through the private sector;
◦ Provide a key platform for information sharing on trade and investment flows , potential
business partnerships.
 Today, the CBC has been positioned by the Council of Ministers and Summit as the recognized
regional apex body of the private sector in the COMESA region- The VOICE of Business.
 As a Policy Organ of COMESA, it provides verbal articulation of private sector positions to highest
offices of decision making. This means that CBC is not an observer, but a key actor in influencing
policy discussions.
COMESA BUSINESS COUNCIL

13. Amr Omar

14. Currently;
Operationalize the adopted Sectorial working groups by the CBC General
Assembly, namely;
 Financial Services.
 Tourism Services.
 Agro-trade and Industry work group.
 NTB Workgroup; Active
Upcoming Events;
 The 1st COMESA Sustainable Tourism Development Forum- a Public Private
Dialogue; August, 2012.
 The CBC Financial Services Dialogue- Focus on Regulatory systems in
Banking and Insurance; Formation of Regional Bankers Association;
September.
 Agro-Trade and Industry Forum; September.
 8th COMESA Business Forum and Annual Regional Exhibition; October ,
2012.
 Back –to – Back- CBC General Assembly; October, 2012.

15. • Successfully held 7 Annual Business Forums- the Regional PPD Forum open
to all businesses in the region, discussing key agendas affecting trade and
Business;
• Successfully addressed private sector positions at the Tripartite level on the
Tripartite Rules of Origin;
• Prepared and presented a Private sector position paper on the movement of
business persons and Gradual Elimination of Visa Requirements in the
COMESA region; Ongoing advocacy- The CBC is preparing an interim
business facilitation tool that can facilitate movement of businesses without
the impediment of VISA requirements;
• Formed a Regional NTB working Group, Chaired by the Burundi Association
of Manufacturers/Burundi Federation of Chambers of Commerce;
• An active Board that acts as a High level advisory and advocacy team to the
highest level of decision making;
Successes;

16. Ahmed Agha

17. Challenges
Border
congestion.
Corruption
and bribery.
Lack of
change of
mind-set-
from trade
control to
trade
facilitation
leading to
excessive
regulations
Lack of common
understanding
and commitment
between Public
and Private
sector.
Limited
use of IT
facilities
and poor
interconn
ectivity
amongst
inter-
agencies.

18. WHY??

19. The Origin and Elements of Culture
Geography
History
The political
economy
Technology
Government

20. KPIs from international business aspect
impact Achieved Not
Achieved
Geography As climate ,topography as
ingredients of geography
which is main point of the
culture origins are different
between the COMESA
countries Marketers should
do huge effort in this area
as one of the challenges
facing the program.
Not Yes

21. Cont’d
impact Achieved Not Achieved
History There is historical
problems between
the countries of
COMESA which
negatively affect
the integration
Not Yes
The political
economy
Different political
economical
approaches
between
members
communism ,
Democracy need
to be sorted out to
lead program
success.
Not Yes

22. Cont’d
impact Achieved Not Achieved
Technology Although of the
STI program as
part of the
COMESA there is
still issues
impeding the
objective and more
efforts is needed.
Partially Yes
Government Stability and
cooperation of
government is a
hug issue (most of
the states has
governmental
insatiability so diff
point of views and
direction
Not Yes

23. Conclusion
• When a company is operating internationally each new
environment that is influenced by elements unfamiliar and
sometimes unrecognizable to the marketer complicates
the task.
• Special effort and study are needed to absorb enough
understanding of the foreign culture to cope with the
uncontrollable features.
• We believe that COMESA still ineffective due to
the previous factors and need a huge effort to
reach its original Vision

24. THANK YOU