Chakwera hold bilateral talks with Egypt’s President on exchange of trade and agricultural products

* The Egyptian delegation expressed their concern and they were sad to hear about the devastation of Cyclone Freddy

* And they have requested for a report as to what happened and what are the needs — to see, how best they can support

By Yamikani Yapuwa, MANA

At the 22nd COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit in Lusaka, Zambia, President Lazarus Chakwera held bilateral talks with President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah El-Sis where they discussed various areas which the two countries cooperate and exchanged ideas on how they can further help develop the two nations.

Speaking to the media after the meeting in Lusaka, Chakwera said the talk focused on the promotion of cooperation between the two countries whose relationship dates back since independence.  

“The Joint Permanent Commission on Cooperation last met in 2016 and we met again to talk about various areas of cooperation,” he said. “We talked about trade, exchange of agricultural products with Egyptian companies so that we can get fertilizers that way.

He added that President El-Sisi has also offered deep sympathies to Malawi for the devastation caused by Cyclone Freddy-induced floods in March and expeessed his government’s commitment to support the recovery efforts.

“The Egyptian delegation expressed their concern and they were sad to hear about the devastation of Cyclone Freddy and they have requested for a report as to what happened and what are the needs. They want to see, how best they can support.”

“Egypt also indicated that they stand for peace and they want Africa and the world to be at peace hence their decision not fuel any conflict anywhere.

“They feel that no development can take place without peace. Once you destabilise it, things do not work. So they have really demonstrated patience and perseverance even at times when they have to deal with issues like the Nile Dam dispute with Ethiopia.”

Speaking on peace and security earlier during the opening of the 18th meeting of Foreign Affairs Ministers, COMESA Secretary General, Chileshe Kapwepwe said it was encouraging that they have witnessed encouraging developments around some of the issues of security that were considered during the last meeting.

“The progress made in the resolution of the conflict that was witnessed in the Tigray region of Ethiopia and the commitment by the leaders to implement the November 2022 Agreement is very encouraging.

“There is also renewed hope that Libya is getting back on track towards implementing the provisions of the Ceasefire Agreement that will move Libya from the transition phase after more than a decade of instability,” Kapwepwe said.

In his maiden speech at the summit monitored on his official Facebook page live broadcast, Chakwera congratulated Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema who has taken over the COMESA mantle from Egypt.

“As you build on the great work done by President Abdel Fattah El Sisi of the Republic of Egypt, I assure you of Malawi’s full support,” he said, while quick to express worry with the pace at which some instruments to foster economic integration are being pursued by the block, calling on COMESA member states to move with speed.

“I am concerned that we, as a body, are not yet pursuing regional integration with the urgency it deserves. From my perspective, we must accept two realities that necessitate that we move with speed on economic integration.

“The first of these realities is the devastating periods we find ourselves in. Since 2017, ours has been a block of nations under multiple devastating assaults.”

The President made reference to catastrophic disasters countries in the COMESA region, including Malawi, have encountered in the past six years — indicating that the disasters have put a strain on the block’s aspirations of dissolving trade barriers.

He cited Cyclones Idai, Anna, Gombe and Freddy; as well as droughts, effects of the war in Eastern Europe and disease outbreaks such as CoVID-19 and cholera to have inflicted great losses on the continent.

He also conceded that these disasters have exposed the devastation that COMESA was already under such as weak food systems, weak financial controls, weak health systems and weak public institutions.

Additionally, Chakwera emphasised that economic integration is a matter of urgency, observing that since the ratification of the African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA), there have already been forces from beyond Africa to harness the instrument’s potential for their own selfish agenda.

“If, as COMESA, we do not get our act together on economic integration in time, by the time we integrate, the mechanism will have already been rigged against us and Africa will not benefit,” he said.

He thus called on member states to come together and redefine their agriculture, tourism and mining sectors, saying they have potential to turn around COMESAs fortunes as identified by MW2063 development blueprint.

The Malawi leader has since challenged countries within the regional block to develop and synchronise their infrastructural, transport, energy, digital, financial and law enforcement systems to cut out inefficiencies and illegalities that are used to defraud African economies.

The Summit was held under the theme: ‘Economic Integration for a Thriving COMESA Anchored on Green Investment, Value Addition and Tourism’.—Additional reporting by Rachel Gonani, MANA