e-COMESA Newsletter, Issue No. 218. Highlights:- * Burundi the First Country to benefit from the COMESA adjustment facility * FANRPAN Food Security Policy Leadership Award ceremony * COMESA Ministers of Agriculture and Environment Meet in Zimbabwe * COMESA Court of Justice to Open 2009 Session on 14th Sept. 2009 * Uganda Re-Aligns the National Cotton-to-Clothing Strategy with the COMESA Regional Strategy for Cotton-to- Clothing Value Chain * Rwanda Records Major leap on the List of ease in doing business

1. Issue #126 Friday 19 October 2007
Issue #218 -11th September 2009
Burundi the First Country to Benefit from
the COMESA Adjustment Facility
newsletter
newsletter
e
Addressing a press conference
after the ceremony Mr Ngwenya
explained that the 4.4 million Euros
a grant to Burundi meant to assist
her integrate herself into COMESA
1
and EAC and does not have to be
repaid.
Speaking at the same ceremony,
Burundi’s minister of Finance Madam
Nizigama Clotilde, pointed out that
the 4.4 million Euros is only 65% of
the funds that Burundi expects to get
and that data required collection with
the view to get the remaining 35% is
on an advanced stage. She thanked
COMESA Secretariat for having sup-
COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso Ngwenya presenting a cheque to Burundi’s Minister of
ported her country leading to being
Finance Mrs Clotilde Nizigama at a ceremony held in Bujumbura, Burundi the first to access the fund.
T
oday ( Friday 11th Septem- Trade Area, it was envisaged that the In the same vein, Mr. Ngwenya
ber 2009), COMESA disbursed progress towards achieving the level equally pointed that Burundi has in-
Euro 4.4 million (7.7 billion of integration desired by the region dicated that she is committed to meet
Burundi Francs equivalent) under the would entail adjustments by the vari- her part of the MoU “In her request,
COMESA adjustment facility. The ous Governments. With foresight, the Burundi has provided a programme
COMESA Secretary General Mr Sindiso COMESA Secretariat started to think for implementation of commitments
Ngwenya presented the cheque to of how we would support our coun- which includes the elimination of
the Burundian Minister of Finance Mrs tries in this process”, added Secretary non tariff barriers; support to the
Clotilde Nizigama at a ceremony General Ngwenya. COMESA Common Investment Area;
held in Bujumbura, Burundi. Also As a result, COMESA created the and fiscal and monetary harmoniza-
present were Burundi’s Minister COMESA fund, with two windows one tion” Mr Ngwenya said. Adding that,
of Commerce, Industry and Tour- of which is the adjustment facility. it is commendable to see that the
ism, Mrs Euphrasie Bigirimana and Mr Ngwenya pointed out that there overall objective of the programme
the Head of the European Com- was a need for provision of adjust- has a private sector focus and aims to
mission to Burundi Ambassodor ment support to Member States to address constraints that limit the ca-
Alain Darthenucq, Mr Peter Kiguta enable them more easily commit and pacity to effectively benefit from larger
Director General of Customs and implement their regional integra- markets” pointed out Mr Ngwenya.
Trade represented the East African tion commitments. “For this aspect, a Secretary General Ngwenya
Community ( EAC). second window, called the COMESA also held bilateral discussions with
In his speech, COMESA Secretary Adjustment Facility, would be cre- Burundi’s Minister of Commerce,
General Sindiso Ngwenya gave a ated” he noted. Industry and Tourism Mrs Bigiri-
background to the fund noting that “We went through a rigorous mana Ephrasie, and is scheduled to
it came about as a result of foresight process which entailed showing that meet (this afternoon) with Burundi’s
by COMESA that had anticipated COMESA is indeed an institution with Second Vice President in charge of
that regional governments were ex- the capacity and credibility to handle economy and Social Affairs Hon Gabriel
pected to make some adjustments direct provision of such support to Ntisezerana.
resulting from integration. “In 2000, its Member States through its own
when COMESA launched the Free mechanism.”
This bulletin is published by the COMESA Secretariat Public Relations Unit but does not necessarily represent views of the Secretariat.
Contact Address : COMESA SECRETARIAT, COMESA Center , Ben Bella Road www.comesa.int
P.O. Box 30015, 260 1 229 725, 260 1 225 107
www.comesa.int, e.COMESA@comesa.int

2. FANRPAN Food Security Policy Leadership
2 Award ceremony
P
resident Armando Emilio
Guebuza, of Mozambique is the
recipient of the 2009 FANRPAN
Food Security Policy Leadership
Award for spearheading his country’s
Green Revolution.
The Award was presented at a
special ceremony by Mr. Sindiso
Ngwenya, the Secretary-General of
COMESA, in his capacity as Chairman
of the FANRPAN Board of Governors.
Accepting the award on behalf
of the President, the Prime Minister
of Mozambique, H.E. Luisa Diogo,
noted that the Award reinforced
Mozambique’s resolve to put in
practice the Rome Declaration on
World Food by ‘reaffirming the right
of everyone to have access to safe
and nutritious food’. This is consistent Mozambican Prime Minister H.E Luisa Diogo (left) receiving the award on behalf of the President
with the universal right of access to government budgetary allocation to of the General Union of Agricultural
adequate food and the fundamental agriculture in line with CAADP’s call Cooperatives, an organization of
human right of everyone to be free for at least 10 percent investment in 10,000 peasants, 95 percent of whom
from hunger. agriculture; Land under irrigation, are women. The 200 cooperatives
The Award -- whose inaugural given Mozambique’s; Million under UGC produce food for self
winner was the President of hectares with potential for irrigation substance and trade.
Malawi, H.E. Dr. Bingu wa Mutharika and abundant water resources; the A former school teacher by
-- recognises individuals or uptake of fertilizer usage by small training, Madame Cossa, had a
organizations that have made holder farmers; Uptake of improved vision for building food supply in her
effective and evident contributions seed, and; The empowerment of country and empowering the poorest
towards food security and poverty women. people, most of whom are women.
alleviation in the region. In Mozambique, agriculture is She started small cooperative groups
Mozambique has made huge essential for economic growth, of women growing vegetables to
progress on ensuring the political, poverty reduction and food security. supplement family income. Initially
social and economic environment to This sector employs more than 80 some were reluctant to join but soon
eliminate poverty and hunger. In the percent of the labour force and realised her vision. From a network
last five years, the level of poverty generates 25 percent of gross of six cooperatives around Maputo
decreased by 15%, testifying to the domestic product (GDP). Under the these soon increased to more than
visionary and dynamic leadership of leadership of H.E. President Guebuza, 224. The vegetable farming soon
H.E. President Guebuza and his efforts the Government of Mozambique expanded into other commercial
to address hunger and malnutrition approved the Food Security and enterprises such as poultry
in Mozambique. Nutrition Strategy (ESAN II), which production and marketing, credit,
In the citation, FANRPAN CEO, Dr. includes food security as human insurance, industry, and construction.
Lindiwe Majele Sibanda highlighted right. The Government also approved The ventures were complemented
that Southern Africa is neither poor the Action Plan for Food Production with training programmes to give
nor incapable of feeding itself, which is instrumental in reducing the women accounting, banking and
but lacks fresh initiatives which food deficit of main staple foods in project management skills.
empower, encourage and support Mozambique during the three years Today, Madame Cossa, is a source
efforts to promote food security, (2008-2011). of inspiration as a fighter for food
policy development and poverty During the same event, FANRPAN security and a proponent of an
alleviation. As part of the Award, the honoured Ms. Cellina Cossa with African Green Revolution led by
CEO announced benchmarks against the inaugural FANRPAN Civil Society women in Mozambique.
which the Mozambican government Policy Movers and Shakers Award. Ms.
would be evaluated. These include; Cossa is the founder and President
www.comesa.int

3. COMESA Ministers of Agriculture
and Environment Meet in Zimbabwe 3
T
he Second Joint Meeting of Zimbabwe and the meeting. He by Africa: adaptation, capacity-
the Ministers responsible for noted that despite agriculture be- building, research, financing
Agriculture, Environment ing central to the economy in the and technology development
and Natural Resources was held in region, the sector’s overall produc- and transfer, including support
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe on 3rd tivity remains relatively low. for South-South transfer of
and 4th September 2009. The He further noted that changing knowledge, in particular indig-
purpose of the meeting was to Climate Patterns are posing chal- enous knowledge.
review the implementation of the lenges to agriculture in the region. 4. Member States agree that the
regional agricultural, environmen- The Fourth Assessment Report of financial resources required
tal and natural resources develop- the Inter-Governmental panel on to tackle Climate Change
ment programmes in the COMESA Climate Change states that Africa should be new and additional,
region. will suffer the most from the im- adequate, predictable, apoliti-
The meeting was attended by pact of Climate Change. cal, sustainable and provided
Ministers and Heads of Delega- The meeting agreed on the fol- primarily in the form of grants
tions from Burundi, Djibouti, Egypt, lowing issues : and other innovative financing
Eritrea, Kenya, Libya, Malawi, Mauri- mechanisms and instruments.
tius, Seychelles, Sudan, Swaziland, 1. Request member States to 5. COMESA member States com-
Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. increase investments in the ag- mit themselves to up scaling
In addition, the meeting was at- ricultural sector and ensure the of climate resilient food pro-
tended by representatives of the targeting of key drivers of the duction technologies such as
USAID/East Africa, RUFORUM, sector as guided in the CAADP Conservation Agriculture. The
Michigan State University (MSU) framework. Region should ensure that one
and the Food and Agriculture Or- 2. Member States commit them- million farmers have access to
ganisation (FAO). selves to align their Agricultural conservation farming technol-
The meeting was officially development programmes to ogy by 2012.
opened by His Excellency, Sena- the CAADP Framework. 6. COMESA Secretariat to facilitate
tor Dr. J.M. Made, MP, Minister of 3. Urge the international com- the formulation of the frame-
Agriculture, Mechanisation and munity to ensure that support work on biofuels and neces-
Irrigation Development of the Re- to Africa under the future cli- sary policies to ensure that
public of Zimbabwe. In his speech, mate regime should be based the food security and energy
he welcomed the participants to on the priorities determined concerns are addressed.
Uganda Re-aligns the National Cotton-to-Clothing Strategy
with the COMESA Regional Strategy for Cotton-to- Clothing
Value Chain
W
ith the assistance of the Father Simon Lokodo, the Minister versify their exports while clothing
USAID/East Africa, the of State for Industry and Technol- production is labour intensive, eas-
Government of Uganda ogy, Ministry of Tourism, Trade and ily offering opportunity for employ-
hosted a two-day National Valida- Industry. ment in producing countries. More-
tion Workshop on Cotton –to- Cloth- The textiles and clothing sector over, the labour requirements can
ing Strategy in Kampala on 31st Au- is one of the 5 priority sectors that be met with low and semi-skilled
gust – 1st September 2009, a week were highlighted by the heads of workers especially women.
after the Parliament approved the State Summit which was held in Dji- In line with the implementation
National Cotton and Textiles Policy. bouti in 2006 as major source of in- of the heads of State Summit and
The event was attended by forty come and wealth and an important the Council of Ministers which met
five participants drawn from public source of foreign exchange earn- in Djibouti in 2006 and Nairobi, Ke-
and private sectors, civil society, and ings. Textiles and clothing have, nya, in 2007, which directed COME-
academia, ITC, all in the value chain. over time, provided an opportunity SA to support member States to de-
It was opened by Honourable Rev. for some African countries to di- continued on page 4
www.comesa.int

4. Uganda Re-aligns the National Cotton-to-Clothing Strategy
4
with the COMESA Regional Strategy for Cotton-to- Clothing
Value Chain
continued from page 3
velop industrial strategies, COMESA
in partnership with the African
Cotton, Textiles and Industry
Federation (ACTIF), and supported
by key partners including ITC, and
FAO developed a Cotton – to –
Clothing Strategy for eastern and
Southern Africa.
The Regional Strategy was
validated in Johannesburg, South
Africa within the Tripartite Frame-
work and was launched during the
Business Forum which was held in
Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, on 4th –
6th June 2009, back to back with A group photo of participants at the Cotton-To-Cotton National Validation workshop
the Heads of State Summit. held in Kampala, Uganda
COMESA Court of Justice to Open the 2009
Session on 14 th Sept 2009
T
he COMESA Court of Justice
will open the 2009 court ses-
sion on Monday 14th Sep-
tember 2009. The ceremonial open-
ing of the session will be held at
the COMESA Secretariat in Lusaka,
Zambia.
President of the Court of Justice
Hon. Nzamba Kitonga is delighted
that the court will finally sit after
postponements.
“The main challenge which the
Court has been facing is that of
financing. The Court has not been
conducting sessions in a timely
manner so as to dispose off pending
cases. The Sessions that were sched-
uled for September 2008 could not
take place. Clearly, justice delayed is
justice denied.
He was speaking at the opening A group photo of the Honourable Justices from the COMESA region plus part of the
Executive management at COMESA Secretariat
of the seventh administrative meet-
ing of the COMESA Court of Justice
in Lusaka on 9th September 2009. reform programmes embodied in its strategic plan, which were aimed at
Recently, the COMESA Court strengthening its systems so that it can be able to operate efficiently and
of Justice embarked on a set of prepare for the challenges which lie ahead.
www.comesa.int

5. Rwanda Records Major leap on the List
of ease in doing business 5
KIGALI - Rwanda did not only Reforms in the company law vice delivery in order to encourage
achieve the double digit ranking it passed this year, simplifying the domestic and foreign investments,”
was eyeing in the 2010 World Bank start-up process from 14 days to just said the Trade and Industry Minister
‘Doing Business Report’, but the 2 days, and time taken to register Monique Nsanzabaganwa.
nation emerged as the top reformer property, largely boosted Rwanda’s In a year of fast-paced reforms,
in setting up a conducive business new ranking. Rwanda’s unprecedented leap in the
environment. Also outstanding is the improve- Doing Business ranking sets a firm
It took a massive leap from its ments in access to credit and pro- foundation for continued efforts to
previous ranking of 143rd, to 67th tecting investors which were all enhance progress beyond World
out of 183 countries. The Doing Busi- strengthened by the new company Bank indicators to the business and
ness 2010 Report named “Reforming law. Alongside the company law is investment climate as a whole, and
through Difficult Times” was officially the new labour law, security interest consolidation of reforms beyond
unveiled at the World Bank Country in movable property and the law on Kigali to district levels.
office by Penelope Brook, the acting commercial recovery and settling of “In times overshadowed by the
Vice President, Financial and Private issues arising from insolvency helped global financial and economic crisis,
Sector Development at the World Rwanda rank highly. business regulation can make an
Bank-IFC. The business reforms are part of important difference for how easy
In attendance were Prime Minis- the government’s wider efforts to it is to reorganize troubled firms to
ter Bernard Makuza, senior govern- promote Rwanda as a business and help them survive, to rebuild when
ment officials, as well as donors. investment destination, in order to demand rebounds, and to get new
“We have seen 67 reforms in 29 drive the growth of the private sec- businesses started,” Brook said.
Sub-Saharan economies this year tor and generate wealth. “Rwanda’s progress is impressive
and we get to celebrate the fact that “On behalf of the Government of and richly deserved. For the first time
we have two African countries in our Rwanda, I want to acknowledge and an African country is the top per-
top ten reformers. Rwanda is the top welcome the results of Doing Busi- former,” said Jean Philippe Prosper,
reformer worldwide,” Penelope Brook ness 2010 Report. This year we have the Director of IFC, Eastern and
said. done a major overhaul of our legal Southern Africa.
“It jumps 76 places in the rank- framework by modernising key busi- In the region, Rwanda again
ing to number 67 and by reforming ness laws, following the best laws emerged the most favourable place
in seven of the areas that we cover. worldwide,” said Makuza. to do business with its neighbours
That is the biggest jump that we He stressed that Rwanda focused ranking behind it.
have ever seen in the Doing Business on investment, service delivery and Kenya is the nearest ranking at
Ranking. This calls for a celebration,” access to credit and simplifying taxa- 95th, Uganda 112th, Tanzania 131st,
she said amidst ululations and ap- tion procedures. Burundi 176th and DRC a lowly
plause. “While achieving the double digit 179th.
Brook who flew in to announce is very rewarding, we remain focused Meanwhile, a cabinet meeting
the results to different African coun- on the implementation of sustain- that sat yesterday evening chaired
tries by a video link, commended able reforms and ensuring that they by President Paul Kagame welcomed
post-conflict countries, including trickle down to all administrative the report and called for more efforts
Rwanda, Liberia and Sierra Leone, for levels. We envision doing further to aim higher in the next rankings.
major improvements in easing doing reforms to streamline procedures to The meeting set a target of be-
business. do business.” ing among the top ten in the Doing
Out of the 10 indicators of the The Prime Minister expressed the Business rankings, calling upon all
World Bank, Rwanda registered willingness and determination of the leaders in different capacities to put
massive reforms-the best globally, government to continue implement- more emphasis on service delivery to
in starting a business, employing ing major reforms, bearing in mind expedite the country’s development.
workers, dealing with construction the competitiveness of the countries,
permits, registering property, getting adding that the Rwanda will aim
credit, protecting investors, trading even higher in the next rankings.
across borders and closing business. “This achievement is a result of
It also emerged the most consis- extensive efforts by the government
tent reformer, moving from 143 to 67 in the last few years aimed at estab-
in the rankings followed by Mauri- lishing a conducive legal framework,
tius, which is 17th overall, from 24th streamlining procedures, reducing
position in the previous report. bureaucracy and improving ser-
www.comesa.int