The President travels to Lusaka for the Comesa Summit

Kennedy Mavhumashava
President Mnangagwa leaves today Harare for Lusaka, Zambia, where he will attend the 20th Common Market Summit of the United States. Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa).

Heads of state and government of the 19 member states of the regional bloc are expected at the summit to be held tomorrow under the theme "Comesa: Towards Digital Economic Integration".

The theme rallies Member States towards the full adoption of digital technologies to establish homogenous processes in the Comesa region to facilitate business and strengthen regional integration by using the technologies of technology. 39, information and communication.

Comesa paves the way for the establishment of digital free trade instruments, a first for Africa that integrates e-commerce, e-logistics and e-legislation to minimize the impact The impact of physical barriers on its Member States. [19659006] The program of the Mulungushi International Conference Center summit in the Zambian capital began last Monday with meetings of the political bodies of the group. The Council of Ministers met on Saturday and Sunday

. They welcomed the peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea that ended a 20-year conflict between Comesa's two member states. They "congratulated the leaders of the two states for having demonstrated that the African continent could solve its own problems without interference or external insistence", according to a statement from Comesa Monday.

The meeting of ministers coincided with a visit by President Isaias Afwerki to Ethiopia, a few days after Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's first visit to Eritrea, and agreed to end the war killed many people on both sides.

Ethiopia and Eritrea conflict between 1998 and 2000 but the neighbors have recently agreed to restore the diplomatic, trade and transport links that had been cut during this war.

Key issues on the summit agenda include joining Comesa by Tunisia and Somalia. The negotiations for their admission were concluded a few months ago.

However, the formal acceptance of Somalia required the approval of the 38th meeting of the Council of Ministers of Comesa and the subsequent approval by the Assembly of Heads of State . Tunisia was approved in November 2009.

Another highlight will be the appointment of a new Secretary General of Comesa to replace Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, a Zimbabwean who has held this position since May 2008.

Ms. Inonge Wina, Vice President of Zambia At the opening of the 16th meeting of Foreign Ministers, Mr. Ngwenya was commended for leading the regional body over the last decade.

"When he was appointed Secretary General, our program on peace and security" Through his mandate, he oversaw an increase in partners and cooperation programs, and oversaw the development and implementation of the program. implementation of Comesa's early conflict warning system, as well as a program on democracy including professional observation of more than 20 elections. "