The third Common Market for Eastern and Southern African States (COMESA) investment forum?connecting Africa to the World-at Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt?ended on a positive note for Africa?s accelerated development. Chairman, COMESA council of minister, professor Welshman Ncube, said the 19-member regional body was now open for substantial investment and accelerated trade.
Thanking the over-800 delegates from 65 countries, the Egyptian minister of investment, Mahmoud Mohieldin said the conference is meant to ?boost investment ties between member countries and investment institutions worldwide, and present investment opportunities in development projects?.
The General Authority for Investment (Gafi) chairman, Osama Salleh said, ?We are honoured to have hosted such a landmark event that saw top business and institutional leaders gather to exchange ideas and share their experiences. We feel very privileged to have been able to contribute to the enhancement of intra-regional relations, and to the boosting of economic ties across Africa and the world more generally.?
Keynote speaker and author of author of Dead Aid, Dambise Moyo, highlighted the achievements of Botswana and Rwanda as two great success stories in Africa as both have substantially improved the business climate in their countries.
Commenting on the first day of the forum, Omar Ben Yedder, managing director, IC Events (the producers) said: ?It has been a very intense but enriching day.?
On two day, the conference witnessed discussions on investment opportunities in a number of promising sectors in Africa, topped by infrastructure, CIT, new and renewable energy, agriculture, agricultural manufacturing and non-bank financial services.
Mahmoud Mohieldin pointed out that COMESA has made a development in simplifying business activities and movement of trade and investment among member states, while streamlining customs procedures, eliminating non-tariff barriers and the removal of import and export quotas.
The COMESA forms a major market place for both internal and external trading with its 19-member states, a population of over 400 million and an annual import bill of $32 billion and export bill of $82 billion.
Since the formation of the COMESA?s Free Trade Area in October 2000, trade has significantly grown and intra-investments increased during the past five years, especially in the fields of agriculture, food industries, real estate development, tourist development, energy, road and financial services.
Mahmoud Mohieldin also reiterated investment in infrastructure as currently the top priority for member states, saying that ?without infrastructure, trade within and without COMESA region can not be carried out efficiently.?
Despite the development accomplished so far, however, Mohieldin highlighted several challenges facing any kind of sustainability, namely unemployment rates in the region and a slowdown in growth figures.
Narrating some success stories Mohieldin pointed to Rwanda which came in first place as the top reformer in 2010, while Egypt maintained its place in the top 10 reformers for the fourth year while maintaining its reform programme.
According to statistics recording the capital flows coming from the COMESA member countries to Egypt from January 1970 to March 31, the number of companies incorporated in this period in the different Egyptian economic sectors was as follows; 61 companies in the agricultural sector, 29 in the tourism sector, 30 in the finance sector, 215 in the services sector, 83 in the construction sector and 24 in the communications sector.
The overall COMESA investments in projects in Egypt have reached $1.46 billion during the above period. Among the COMESA member states, Libya contributed for biggest share to the incorporation of new businesses in Egypt in the same duration.