COMESA Signs Us$50 million Grant Financing Agreement with World Bank to Accelerate Energy Access

Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has disclosed that it has signed a US$50 million grant financing agreement with the World Bank.

Speaking at the 45th Inter-Governmental Committee Meeting in Lusaka, COMESA Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe said the grant financing agreement is aimed at facilitating implementation of the US$5 billion Accelerating Sustainable and Clean Energy Access Transformation (ASCENT) in the Southern and Eastern Africa Region which was launched in June 2024.

Ms. Kapwepwe stated that the transformative project is an ambitious leap towards universal energy access and the clean energy transition in the Eastern and Southern Africa region.

“The ASCENT is conceived as a comprehensive accelerator of energy access efforts in the Eastern and Southern Africa region, aiming at the delivery of new electricity connections to over 100 million people through both grid- and Distributed Renewable Energy (DRE)-based solutions,” Ms. Kapwepwe stated.

Ms. Kapwepwe also revealed that the European Union (EU) has availed an additional €12 million to, among others, support the domestication of the various Tripartite Road Transport Legal instruments adopted by the 5th Meeting of the Tripartite Council of Ministers convened in March 2023, under the leadership of COMESA.

She said this timely intervention will support the Market Integration pillar under the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) which came into effect on 25th July 2024, by facilitating transportation of goods and people within the Tripartite Member/Partner States.

“You will agree with me that the entry into force of the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement (TFTA) on 25th of July 2024 following the threshold of 14 ratifications is a significant milestone of our regional integration agenda.

“The 3 pillars of the TFTA namely; market integration, infrastructure development and Industrial development reflects the African Union (AU’s) Agenda 2063 aspirations for sustainable economic development. In addition, the TFTA addresses the complexities associated with overlapping membership among regional economic communities by presenting best practices in facilitating infrastructure connectivity and value chain development at regional levels,” she noted.

She also announced that COMESA will be launching its Electronic Certificate of Origin (e-CO) in 3 of its Member States, namely Zambia, Malawi, and Eswatini during the 30 years anniversary celebrations in December, 2024.

“The e-CO has been developed to provide a simple, secure and fully online process to apply, issue, exchange documents, and verify electronic certificates of origin issued in the Member States. The e-CO will make our transactions seamless, efficient, cheaper, safer and more environment friendly,” Ms. Kapwepwe added.

And officiating at the event, Acting Minister of Commerce, Trade and Industry Rodney Sikumba reiterated that the value of COMESA’s total exports to the world significantly rose by 210% from US$100 billion in 2020 to US$219 billion in 2023.

Mr. Sikumba also noted that the value of intra-COMESA total exports increased by 40% from US$10 billion in 2020 to US$14 billion in 2023.

He further highlighted some of the milestones COMESA has achieved in the last 30 years of its existence, which include implementation of various trade facilitation programmes including small-scale cross border trade initiatives, and use of electronic tools to ease management and processing of documents, as well as enhance cross-border trade and investments.

“You will agree with me that the world has moved to use of ICTs and digital tools, especially during and after Covid. COMESA and its partners have not been left behind from embracing digital trade. Initiatives such as the online NTB reporting and monitoring system, the electronic certificate of origin, and the digital platform for women in business are critical in this digital era.”

“All these initiatives related to digital trade and need to be commended. I call upon member states to support these initiatives,” Mr. Sikumba stated.

Zambia is hosting the Intergovernmental Committee (IC) meeting from today 25th to 28th November, 2024. The meting has brought together Permanent and Principal Secretaries from Coordinating Ministries of the 21 COMESA Member States.