By MELBOURNE MUSHITU
THE European Union (EU) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding and two other agreements worth €68 million to enhance trade programmes.
The trade programmes will include upgrading of the Nakonde, Tunduma and Mwami-Mchinji borders in Zambia.
Meanwhile, the two organisations have signed an agreement worth €7 million to build an energy market to stimulate power trade and enable Zambia become an energy exporting hub as it has more resources than any other country in the Southern African region.
EU representative to COMESA Alessandro Mariani said the agreements on the trade facilitation programme was meant to reduce the cost of doing business and moving goods in the region.
“The trade facilitation programme will upgrade five selected border posts, namely, Chirundu, Nakonde-Tunduma, Mwami-Muchinji, Galafi between Djibouti and Ethiopia and Moyale between Kenya and Ethiopia,” Ambassador Mariani said.
This would reduce the time and cost of trade in the important transport corridors and help promote COMESA for investors through trade fairs.
Ambassador Mariani said this in Lusaka yesterday during the signing ceremony.
The ambassador said the energy trade programme would also ensure that there was a competitive field in the market as well as harmonise the modus operandi for market actors.
Ambassador Mariani said in order to achieve the energy programme, there was need for structural adjustments such as changes in the energy market in order to foster competition and private sector investments.
He said the EU would continue strengthening its collaboration with COMESA and its member states in order to achieve the aspirations.
COMESA secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya said the beneficiaries of the trade facilitation programme were member states and private sector traders in the tripartite region.
Mr Ngwenya said the programme would also eradicate poverty through empowering women by facilitating informal cross-border trade by simplifying the certificates of origin and customs documents.