Ruto, Mnangagwa preach against trade barriers at Comesa meeting

By  Luke Anami

Correspondent

Presidents William Ruto and his Zimbabwean counterpart Emmerson Mnangagwa have called for the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers to boost intra-regional trade within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA).

The two leaders appealed to the bloc’s 25th summit in Harare on Thursday, where President Ruto handed over the Comesa chairmanship to Mr Mnangagwa.

“Our common market is home to nearly 700 million people, with a combined GDP of more than $1 trillion. Yet we still trade far more with the rest of the world than with one another. We are neighbours who buy from strangers,” said Ruto.

“That is the gap this Plan exists to close. It commits us to growing the value of intra-Comesa trade every single year, and to raising its share of our total trade to 15 percent by 2030.”

Intra-Comesa trade stands at approximately $13.7 billion (or about 14 percent of the bloc's total trade), having experienced a slight 3.6 percent decline from $14.2 billion the previous year.

The President urged African States to show confidence in African institutions, saying they have already demonstrated their capacity by financing Africa's trade, insuring the continent's risks and standing with African States when others stepped back.

He called on African governments to place more of their reserves with African institutions, channel development projects through them and back their bonds and guarantees.

Through the Alliance of African Multilateral Financial Institutions, he explained, African institutions can now pool their strength and act on a continental scale.

“We cannot ask the world to trust African institutions if we do not trust them ourselves. Africa holds more than $4 trillion in domestic financial assets. Yet much of these sit in foreign accounts, earning little while our own projects wait for capital,” he said.

Kenya, President Ruto pointed out, has increased its shareholding in Afreximbank, the African Finance Corporation and African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI).

“Just for your information, the $16 billion East Africa refinery that will be built in Kenya will be almost wholly funded by African financial institutions. That is the scale of the resources that we have,” he said.

President Mnangagwa called for the urgent removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers, stronger public-private sector collaboration and accelerated value addition to unlock opportunities within Comesa, a regional market valued at approximately $1.23 trillion and home to 680 million people.

Opening the 19th Comesa Business Forum and Exhibition in Harare, President Mnangagwa said deeper regional integration must deliver tangible benefits for businesses and citizens through expanded trade, investment, jobs, higher standards of living and industrial development.

"Business leaders must speak to governments about what they need, so that One Market truly delivers One Future, delivering prosperity for the citizens of the Comesa region and leaving no one and no place behind," he said.

Held under the theme "One Market, One Future", the Business Forum and Exhibition convened government policymakers, business leaders, development partners and industry stakeholders to advance regional trade, investment and industrialisation.

President Mnangagwa also highlighted the growing role of digital technologies in modern trade and logistics. He called for wider adoption of interoperable digital payment systems, electronic certificates of origin, electronic single-window platforms, and modern logistics infrastructure to facilitate cross-border commerce.

Addressing delegates before the official opening of the Business Forum and Exhibition by the President, Comesa Secretary-General Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe commended partners for bringing together stakeholders from across the region to explore opportunities for trade, investment, and economic cooperation.

She called for renewed commitment to inclusive industrialisation, investment, and regional integration, stressing the need to convert policy aspirations into measurable outcomes.

"Our ambition of One Market, One Future is being built transaction by transaction, investment by investment, border by border and business by business," she said.

The AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene welcomed Somalia’s decision to ratify the AfCFTA agreement.

Somalia officially became the 50th State Party to the African Continental Free Trade Area on 4 September 2026, after depositing its instrument of ratification at the African Union Headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The move grants Somali businesses and investors preferential access to a continental market of over 1.4 billion consumers.

“In terms of implementation of the AfCFTA, your excellences, as we speak today, 54 members of the African Union have signed the agreement establishing the AfCFTA,” said Mene.

“50 members of the African Union have ratified it. Somalia is the most recent member of the African Union to ratify the agreement establishing the AfCFTA. We congratulate Somalia for being the 50th state party to the AfCFTA, which further strengthens Comesa's contribution to continental trade.”

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema, Comesa Secretary-General Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe and AfCFTA Secretary-General Wamkele Mene were among those present.

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