Harare, (New Ziana) – President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said promoting food security, peace, increased trade and economic co-operation will underline his incoming chairmanship of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) trading bloc.
Zimbabwe assumes the rotational chairmanship of Comesa next month for a period of one year, taking over from Kenya which currently holds the position for the 21-nation group.
In a wide-ranging interview, President Mnangagwa said food security was key for national development, and must be ensured, first and foremost, by all countries.
He said Zimbabwe, which has attained food self-sufficiency, and is a renowned agricultural powerhouse in the sub-region, will gladly share its expertise in the sector during its chairmanship of Comesa, and beyond.
“I believe that together as a community, not only as SADC (Southern African Development Community), but perhaps as Comesa, we need to promote, first and foremost, food security in our respective jurisdictions and countries,” he said.
“Zimbabwe is lucky; we are endowed with a very progressive agricultural set-up. We are food secure, and we are willing to share our expertise in that sub-sector of the economy, agriculture.
“Basically, we are an agricultural country, and our economy is basically agricultural. Our growth trajectory is sustained mainly by our agricultural performance, so we believe that from that stand-point, we are a strong economic participant in the region,” President Mnangagwa said.
His focus on food security, in Comesa specifically, and Africa broadly, is key in helping end a pattern that has emerged of the continent regularly extending begging bawls for food to the rest of the world.
The super drought-inducing El-Nino weather predicted this year for the sub-region, underlines the criticality, and urgency of President Mnangagwa’s food security clarion call.
Zimbabwe will also, during its chairmanship of Comesa, push for the alignment of the diverse economic strengths of individual member states so these can be leveraged by all in pursuit of common development.
With a combined gross domestic product of US$1 trillion, and a common market of over 600 million people, Comesa is arguably one of the largest economic blocs in Africa, and holds massive potential for growth still.
But there is weak trade and economic synergies within the group, a situation that constricts co-operation in the two spheres, and ultimately development of member states.
“Fortunately, each of our member states have separate strengths. We in Zimbabwe, we have strength in the agricultural sector, so we contribute more in this basket of countries in the area of agriculture. Others contribute more, like Zambia in the mining sector, they are very good in the mining sector,” President Mnangagwa said.
“Every aspect of endevour in the economic sphere is critical. I don’t think there are aspects of activities that should be regarded as minor, and others major. Everything contributes to the good of the other, and none of these activities can excel without support of other activities,” he added, referring to the different economic strengths of individual Comesa countries, and the need for these to leveraged for the common good of all member states.
For Zimbabwe, with a broadly diversified economy, and export basket, the bloc offers a virtually untapped market for various goods and services, with limited competition.
Drawing from this, President Mnangagwa said local business will be deeply ‘integrated’ into the country’s chairmanship of Comesa to help open up new trade and economic opportunities for the country.
Zimbabwe’s current export product mix to Comesa is dominated by mining, manufactured and agricultural commodities, and were valued at US$28 million in July alone this year.
President Mnangagwa said ensuring peace and security in the sub-region will also be top on his ‘to do list’ during his chairmanship of Comesa, noting that there was enough collective ‘will and capacity’ among the bloc’s members to achieve this.
Achieving this goal was important to allow Comesa member states to concentrate on, and pour more resources into, development, and creating economic synergies for the common good of the sub-region.
A number of Comesa countries face conflict situations, a developmental drawback not only for the individual countries concerned, but also the bloc as a whole.
“I have no doubt the rest of us – both SADC and Comesa – have the will, capacity, and endevour to make our region peaceful and progressive, and we co-operate,” President Mnangagwa said.
He expressed optimism that Zimbabwe’s chairmanship of Comesa will be successful, and benefit the local economy enormously, in part because of strong regional support the country enjoyed.
“It is not a minor responsibility, its a very huge sub-continental duty. We, with humility, accept this responsibility,” President Mnangagwa said.
“I have no doubt that the burden will be that of Zimbabwe, (but) it shall continue to be a collective burden of SADC. I will never consider that this chairmanship is sorely a chairmanship for Zimbabwe, but I share it with my colleagues in SADC,” he said.
New Ziana
