HARARE, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) -- Regional leaders on Thursday called for stronger integration and increased intra-African trade to boost economic growth at the 25th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government Summit held in Mount Hampden on the outskirts of Zimbabwe's capital, Harare.
Held under the theme of "One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialization, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA," the summit brought together regional leaders and senior government officials across its 21 member states to discuss trade, investment, industrialization and economic integration.
In his acceptance speech upon taking over as COMESA chairperson, Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa urged the 21-member regional bloc to harness its resources and investment potential to accelerate modernization and industrialization.
"Our common market must enable enterprises to produce at scale, facilitate cross-border movement of factors of production and reach new customers. The future we envision requires every member state to contribute to, and benefit from, our collective progress," said Mnangagwa.
He called for measures to address persistent non-tariff barriers, infrastructure gaps and policy misalignments, urging member states to simplify border procedures, embrace digital trade systems and adopt innovative financing models for long-term infrastructure development.
Mnangagwa underscored the importance of climate change mitigation, environmental sustainability and regional cooperation in strengthening food security, while calling for greater local processing of natural resources to promote sustainable economic development.
"The message to the region is that the natural endowments of Africa must industrialize our economies, create jobs and broad-based empowerment which improves the quality of life for our peoples," said Mnangagwa.
Outgoing COMESA chairperson, Kenyan President William Ruto, said regional integration is essential for the bloc's member states to navigate growing global fragmentation.
"The global order is shifting. Geopolitical tensions are rising. Protectionism is returning. Supply chains are breaking. Competition for critical and strategic resources is intensifying," Ruto said.
In this regard, he urged African countries to increase intra-African trade, build resilient regional value chains, reduce reliance on exporting raw materials and focus on adding value to their resources, adding that COMESA could strengthen Africa's position in global trade by negotiating as a unified market.
On regional stability, he said COMESA should strengthen its capacity to prevent conflict, stressing that peace, security and good governance were essential for achieving prosperity. "Because there is no prosperity without peace, no peace without security and no security without good governance, we continue to strengthen our capacity to prevent conflict," he said.
COMESA is a regional economic community working to promote regional integration through trade, investment and infrastructure development. ■
