Over 140 academia, think tanks, Government officers and representation from the private sector are participating in the eighth annual Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Research Forum which opened on Monday 13 September 2021. Research papers focusing on regional mitigation strategies against the effects of COVID-19 on intra-COMESA trade and emerging issues, are being presented at this four-day forum.
The policy implications from the papers will be presented to the COMESA policy organs meetings to contribute towards policy making decisions. In addition, country specific research outputs from the forum will directly inform domestic policy reform initiatives in Member states.
The theme of this year’s forum is Rethinking Trade and Doing Business in the Wake of COVID-19 Pandemic. The Forum is expected to come up with recommendations that will help the region build resilience around productivity, productive capacities and sustained regional trade even amid the worst of shocks. It is funded by COMESA; the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS); and the European Union through the TradeCom II Capacity Building Programme. Since 2014, the COMESA has organised seven research forums since 2014.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, the COMESA Secretary General, Ms Chileshe Kapwepwe, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause unprecedented economic, social and cultural consequences across the globe and the COMESA region.
“COMESA’s global trade was affected due to subdued growth in most of our main trading partners which led to reduction in demand for COMESA’s goods and services,” she said. “It is worth noting that our Governments, with support from development and specialized agencies, are making every effort to ensure availability of vaccines for our people. This remains the first critical step in protecting our people and creating conditions for opening economies and launching recovery process”, she added.
Delivering the keynote address to the forum, Director at UNCTAD, Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Special Programmes, Mr Paul Akiwumi said the COMESA research forum is a timely occasion to reflect on the key processes that can help contribute to this recovery and stimulate long-term growth and prosperity on the continent.
“COVID-19 has reinforced the need for African countries to be self-sufficient and to enhance close regional cooperation and use events such as the COMESA Annual Research Forum for targeted research and policy analysis, and action to strengthen economic integration and trade both within COMESA and within the other Regional Economic Communities (RECs),” he noted.
Governments and businesses are some of the areas targeted in strengthening existing and developing new value chains both at the regional and global level. Also, worth considering is to unlock the transformative potential of the manufacturing and industrial sector in Africa which is a key aspect of the AfCFTA, and changing production and consumption patterns both globally and regionally.
