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Pamela Shumba Senior Reporter
PRESIDENT Robert Mugabe arrived back home yesterday from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he attended the 18th Comesa summit.
The 19-member regional bloc’s meeting, which was being held under the theme “Inclusive and sustainable industrialisation”, ended yesterday with member states committing themselves   to working towards poverty eradication — the biggest challenge facing the continent.

President Mugabe was welcomed at Harare International Airport by the two Vice Presidents Cdes Emmerson Mnangagwa and Phelekezela Mphoko; the Minister for Economic Planning Simon Khaya Moyo; the Minister of Defence Sydney Sekeramayi; the Minister of State for Harare Provincial Affairs Miriam Chikukwa, service chiefs and senior government officials.

Industry and Commerce Minister Mike Bimha, who also attended the summit,  said the industrialisation policies discussed at the indaba were in line with the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim-Asset).

“Over the years we’ve been talking about Sadc, African Union and Comesa but despite all these organisations that bring the African countries together, there’s  little trade in Africa.

“Only 10 percent  of Africa’s trade is contributed by  Comesa,” he said in an interview after the summit.

“We reached a consensus that industrialisation is the way forward for Africa to transform economically and I’m glad that the industrialisation policies agreed upon are in tandem with what  we’ve already put in place back home. It makes it easier for us to work with Comesa.”

The biggest challenge that Africa   has, Bimha said, was the lack of  production.

“We’re producing the same products and competing for the same markets. This calls for diversification.  We’ve to be innovative and the thrust of our industrialisation policy should be accompanied with sound strategies,” he said.

“The continent could make use of our funding organisations such as the      African Development Bank (ADB),   which has pledged to support us financially.”

Bimha said one of the strategies Africa could employ, which Zimbabwe had already adopted, was to make use of its Diaspora by encouraging them to invest in Africa.

“Diasporans are interested in investing back home.  We’re already engaging embassies to assist the government in giving our Diasporans information on what’s happening in their country so that they know the opportunities that are available to them.

“Some Diasporans are in better positions to get funding because of the interactions that they have with people in the countries that they live in,” he said.

Bimha said implementation of industrialisation policies in Africa was not only a preserve of governments alone but the private sector as well.

“We’ve accepted at Comesa level that we need to engage the private sector. This is happening across the world.  The private sector should be at the forefront of transforming the economy while the government provides leadership,” added the minister.

He said for Africa to progress, it was important to stop relying on other countries for value addition of natural resources.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Haile Mariam Dessalegn, who took over the Comesa chairmanship from Democratic Republic of Congo President  Joseph Kabila, said despite the remarkable economic performance by Africa, millions of Africans were still living in poverty.

“The main challenge that Africa is facing today is how to significantly reduce and ultimately eradicate extreme poverty in the region while transforming the structure of its economies.

“Sound economic policies, stronger institutions and higher levels of  public and private investment are   among the major drivers of social and economic development in Africa,” said Dessalegn.

The Comesa chairperson also said employment opportunities, particularly in industrial and agro-industrial sectors, must be made available to the people so that there’s greater prosperity and social cohesion.

The Comesa summit seeks to achieve sustainable economic and social progress through increased co-operation and integration in all fields of development, particularly in trade.

It was established in 1981 as a preferential trade area for Eastern and Southern Africa and as an organisation of free, independent sovereign states which have agreed to co-operate in developing their natural and human resources for the good of their people.