Comesa Stands For

[Rosella Bowlan]

Regionalseed trade in the COMESA countries stands at USD 2 billion but this is set to rise to USD 5 billion by 2025 with the implementation of new initiatives. One of them is the rolling out of the COMESA seed labels and certificates.

The development of the labels and certificates is part of the implementation of the COMESA Seed Harmonisation Implementation Plan (COMSHIP) aimed at facilitating regional seed trade. COMESA Agriculture Ministers endorsed the COMESA Seed Trade Harmonisation Regulations in 2015 leading to the launch of the COMSHIP programme to expedite implementation both at national and regional level.

Recently, the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA) a COMESA Specialized Agency conducted a training for chief executives and technical managers of nine private seed companies on ordering, activation and purchasing of the COMESA seed labels.

This was intended to trigger the use of the labels and regional certificates and encourage participation in trading on the COMESA Harmonized Seed Trading Platform.

Addressing the participants, Secretary General Chileshe Kapwepwe said the potential of the total seed market in the region remains high at two million metric tonnes of quality improved seed. The region is currently producing and accessing less than 500,000 metric tonnes of the seeds.

Limited use of quality seeds in the region is attributed to fragmented and small regional and national seed markets with each country operating its own seed policies and regulations different from other Member States.

Seed companies enter each of the national seed markets separately and individually, a situation which leads to high costs of operations, prolonged delays before good quality seed can find its way to the small-scale farmers.

In most COMESA countries, pre-inspection of seed consignment shall not be necessary as long as the variety is registered on the COMESA Variety Catalogue. Once registered, the variety does not have to be tested again and can be imported, marketed and, if necessary, produced in any country in the COMESA region.

The following seed companies participated in the training: Advanta Seeds, Pannar seeds, Corteva Seeds, Solynta Seeds, mPedigree, Syngenta, Seedco, Kenya Seeds, SeedAssure, Seed Science Technology and Systems Malawi, and African Seed Trade association (AFTSA).

In this Edition 50 Million African Women Speak platform (50MAWSP) National Launches Planned in 14 Member States Great Lakes Trade Facilitation Project Extended to end of 2021 Women in Burundi Empowered to Produce Good Quality Textile Follow the Link to Read More: -content/uploads/2020/08/e-comesa-newsletter-634.pdf

COMESA will be rolling out the 50 Million African Women Speak platform (50MAWSP) in 14 Member States between August and November 2020 largely through virtual means owing to restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The launches will kick off in Zimbabwe on 20 August followed by Seychelles on 25 August.

The platform which is accessible at www.womenconnect.org primarily seeks to economically empower women by providing a one-stop shop for a wide range of financial and non-financial services that women need to start and grow successful businesses.

It is jointly implemented by COMESA, the East African Community (EAC) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and is funded by the African Development Bank. Continentally unveiled during the Global Gender Summit in November 2019 in Kigali, Rwanda, the platform enables women in member/partner States of COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS and other African countries to find information on how to run businesses, where to access financial services, how to create business opportunities online and where to access training resources.

Following the two national launches scheduled this August in Zimbabwe and Seychelles, 12 more launches will be conducted in Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Sudan and Tunisia. The first 50MAWSP national launch in the COMESA region was held in Zambia in February this year.

Women play a critical role in the development of African economies. However, existing and potential women entrepreneurs continue to face gender-specific barriers such as limited access to information and networking opportunities, lower levels of education and business training, weak property rights that deprive them of collateral and tangible assets, legal barriers that impede their economic activities and cultural barriers that discourage them from thriving as entrepreneurs. As a result, women have challenges to access financial and non-financial services and so the size and growth of their businesses suffer.

The 50 Million African Women Speak platform comes at a time when Sub-Saharan Africa hosts close to 13 million formal and informal small and medium-sized enterprises with one or more women owners. Yet, only 16-20% of women entrepreneurs are able to access long-term financing from formal financial institutions to scale up their businesses.

In addition, with a financing gap for women entrepreneurs across business value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa estimated at $42 billionby the African Development Bank, the 50 Million African Women Speak platform stands out as an unique solution to provide information on available financial products specifically designed with women entrepreneurs in mind.

By using Information Communication Technology (ICTs), some of the challenges women entrepreneurs face can be alleviated, hence the establishment of the 50 Million African Women Speak Project (50MAWSP) funded by the African Development Bank.

The Project is contributing to the economic and social empowerment of women across COMESA, EAC and ECOWAS member/partner States through the provision of a networking platform (www.womenconnect.org) to access information on financial and non-financial services.

The COMESA Electronic Certificate of Origin (eCO) is one of the tools developed under the COMESA Digital Free Trade Area (DFTA) initiative, aimed at replacing the current paper-based and manually-released certificates of origin being used by COMESA importers for preferential trade within the COMESA Free Trade Area, with electronic certificates that will simplify their issuing, circulation, and verification processes, that are quite burdensome in all COMESA countries. The certificate of origin is like a passport for goods that proves that the product is originating from a certain country. Such certificates are the precondition for accessing to preferential customs duties rates when imported in another country which is member of the same Free Trade Area to which the country where goods are originating is part.

The aim of the COMESA eCO is to allow traders to benefit from a preferential treatment (exemption or reduction of customs duties) each time such goods are imported in another State which is member of the COMESA Free Trade area.

The need to quickly start the implementation of the eCo system has recently gained urgency from African Regional Economic Communities (RECs), given the challenges that movement of goods across borders is facing as a result of restrictive measures put in place in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. Indeed, the use of Electronic Certificates of Origin falls within a strategy of dematerialisation of trade documents to limit direct contacts with documents and human-to-human contacts in the international supply chain, that is being actively pursued by COMESA and other RECs in Africa (SADC launched the piloting of the SADC eCO in May 2020), and recommended by many international organisations like UN/CEFACT (read this post for more information).

The COMESA eCO is also supposed to facilitate intra-COMESA trade (which currently stands at 8% of total trade generated by this Region, below the continental intra-Africa average, which is 15%), in particular through a reduction in the cost and time required in registration, application and submission of certificates and the post-verification of originating goods.

The decision to replace manual certificates of origin with the eCOs was made by the COMESA Council of Ministers in 2014, but so far the use of electronic certificates has not gained traction among COMESA Member States, mainly because of the lack of the necessary regulations under the COMESA Rules of Origin (RoO). In November 2019, however, at the 40th Meeting of the Council of Ministers, COMESA made a significant step in the implementation of the system, with the adoption of draft regulations to implement the COMESA eCO system (currently non publicly available).

During the 14th meeting of the COMESA Technical Working Group (TWG) on Rules of Origin, held on 10 June 2020, the COMESA Secretariat announced that soon the eCOs will be piloted in 15 COMESA Member States that have indicated their readiness to implement the system, namely: Burundi, DR Congo, Egypt, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The current study is strategically designed to determine the specifications for an effective and functional regional track and trace system within the COMESA region. This system will play a pivotal role in monitoring the supply chain of specific products, ultimately curbing illicit trade and fortifying the revenue protection measures of Member States. Beyond its financial implications, the initiative aligns with international obligations under the Protocol and stands to improve the broader business and policy environment across the COMESA region.

The comprehensive assignment is structured in two phases, with the first phase dedicated to determining requirements and preparing tender documents. This crucial step involves conducting an assessment of COMESA Member States to identify the specific requirements for a regional track and trace system, focusing initially on selected products. The second phase will witness the installation of the regional track and trace system on a pilot basis, using tobacco products as a test case.

While Phase I is currently underway, with a commitment from Africa Rise to support CBC, the initiative represents a broader commitment to combatting illicit trade and fostering sustainable economic practices across COMESA Member States. As the CBC navigates these uncharted waters, the impact of this pioneering move is poised to be transformative, setting new standards for economic governance and trade facilitation within the region. Stay tuned for updates on this groundbreaking initiative that seeks to reshape the economic landscape of the COMESA region.

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