What changed
President William Ruto arrived in Harare for the 25th COMESA Summit, where leaders from the bloc’s 21 member countries will review regional integration, trade, investment and industrial development.
Kenya is expected to hand the COMESA chairmanship to Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa on October 22. The summit is also scheduled to launch COMESA’s Medium-Term Strategic Plan for 2026–2030.
Why it matters
The meeting is about turning regional integration from a slogan into working infrastructure: more trade between COMESA countries, better connectivity, digital transformation and stronger industrial capacity.
One priority is keeping more value from Africa’s natural resources on the continent through local processing. That could support manufacturing and regional supply chains, but the summit’s practical test will be whether leaders attach decisions, funding or a clear timetable to those ambitions. None has been reported yet.
The handover gives Zimbabwe the next turn at steering that agenda. The stated focus also links COMESA’s work to the African Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to build a single continental market for goods and services.
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