Sindiso Ngwenya
Secretary General, COMESA
W launched in the countries that are involved in the Simplifi ed
Trade Regime. We shall integrate them to customs and other
agencies, and to the COMESA center. Above all, the Digital
Free Trade Area application is ready for testing in member
States.
Extending this to member countries, I would say that they, too,
should be and are knowledge countries. And as knowledge
countries, if they are learning and they are many, that’s what
makes a difference. However, what is critically required is
the third component of innovation. Another example where digital applications will have
tremendous impact is in the financial services sector.
Globally, billions of dollars are spent on commercial banks for
confi rming letters of credit but sooner or later, that will be a
thing of the past. There are now applications that can connect
customs administrations, commercial banks, ministries of
fi nance and central banks in real time even when it comes to
remittances. The examples are many and varied.
e are now in the 21st Century, and it is quite
apparent that Information Communication
Technologies and related software applications
will make the difference in this century. In lieu
of this, COMESA was established along three core principles
- one, we are a knowledge management organization; two, we
are a learning organization; and three, we are an innovative
organization.
In this regard, I want to highlight two things. We have
extractive economics that have not graduated from being
primary commodity exporters. But, it is the learning
economies that can leapfrog because they are continuously
changing and adapting institutions, business processes, and
so forth and so on. Hence, our current theme and rallying
call - “COMESA: Towards Digital Economic Integration” - is
most appropriate given the need of the hour.
In terms of Digital Economic Integration, the vision is that
COMESA should embrace all three principles mentioned
above, and also become an information hub as provided in
the Treaty that established the Common Market. What we
mean by digital economic integration is that when it comes
to trade facilitation or the banking sector, gone are the days
when we had documents being prepared at the border posts.
With a digital economy, you can do that from the country of
export, irrespective of where it is.
The same applies to cross border traders. We have developed
a mobile application for cross-border traders which shall be
What I am saying is that the Digital Economic Integration
is going to disrupt our present way of life and our business
processes, but it is only by embracing that that we can advance
as economies and societies. The advantage of being a late
comer in development is that you do not have to invest a
lot of money; all you need to do is to be creative and to take
risks, innovate and adapt to your own conditions. This is
what COMESA, through its various initiatives and efforts,
is striving to do.
The Secretariat wishes to thank the Diplomatist magazine- a
premium international business maga zine published from
New Delhi, India, to bring out this well timed report. I hope
this report will generate greater awareness on emerging
business opportunities in COMESA region and will be of
value to key stake-holders in the region.
Sindiso Ngwenya
Secretary General, COMESA