Tafadzwa Nyikadzino

President Emmerson Mnangagwa has officially opened the 19th COMESA Business Forum in Harare, challenging business leaders to turn the bloc’s “One Market, One Future” theme into tangible trade and investment.

The Forum, held under the theme “One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA,” is a precursor to the 25th COMESA Summit of Heads of State and Government.

Mnangagwa welcomed delegates from across the COMESA Community, including business leaders, chambers of commerce, investors, development finance institutions and policymakers, and urged frank dialogue to scale up intra-regional trade.

“I challenge the Business Forum to hold frank and bold dialogue that will help scale-up intra-regional trade and investment, identify practical solutions and forge partnerships that allow businesses to produce, invest, trade and create jobs across our Common Market,” he said.

The President said intra-COMESA trade remains significantly low, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity, and called for solutions to rules of origin, non-tariff barriers, lengthy customs procedures and high costs of doing business.

He urged the private sector to move from exporting raw commodities to value addition and beneficiation, citing Zimbabwe’s decision in December 2022 to restrict exports of unprocessed lithium ore.

“Similar openings exist in agro-processing, leather, cotton-to-clothing, pharmaceuticals, battery materials and clean energy technologies,” he said.

Mnangagwa said investments should not be isolated national projects but should connect economies through cross-border value chains.

“A Zimbabwean agro-processor should be able to source packaging from Zambia, access finance from a regional financial institution, and work with a Kenyan distributor to reach consumers across COMESA,” he said.

He highlighted the modernisation of Beitbridge Border Post and the upgrade of Chirundu One-Stop Border Post as evidence of Zimbabwe’s commitment to connectivity, and stressed the need for efficient digital trade systems, e-commerce and interoperable payments.

The President said COMESA, as a building block of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), must strengthen productive capacity and harmonise trade procedures.

He invited investors to partner with Zimbabwe in agriculture, mining and mineral beneficiation, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, tourism, ICT and pharmaceuticals, and said Zimbabwe, as host of the Intra-African Trade Fair Company and host of the Intra-African Trade Fair in 2029, is ready to advance the COMESA Medium-Term Strategic Plan 2026-2030.

“Zimbabwe is Open for Business and a friend to all and an enemy to none,” he said, adding “Nyika inovakwa, inotongwa, inonamatirwa nevene vayo” — a country is built, governed and prayed for by its own people.