The 13th Summit of Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) Heads of State and Government took place in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, from 7 to 8 June 2009. "Consolidating Regional Economic Integration through Value Addition, Trade and Food Security" was the theme of the Summit.

Preparations for the launch of the COMESA Customs Union started way back in 1997. Under the COMESA Treaty, the Customs Union was to be launched in 2004; but this was postponed. However now, according to the secretariat report, the key requirements for the launch of the Customs Union are in place.

Nowadays there is a global move towards regionalism. ASEAN, FTAA, NAFTA, MERCOSUR, APEC, and EU are the widely known regional blocs. All regions and all continents are integrating ever more closely into trade blocs and common investment markets. Regionalism has been considered a faster way to resolve issues, particularly those of fundamental importance to the participating countries.

As the Secretary General, COMESA, Sindiso Ngwenya puts it “ Without working together, in an orgainsed and orderly manner that brings us ever closer as a region, we will not successfully face the world as it is now”.

From this perspective, therefore, the launching of the Customs Union in the COMESA region is considered to be a significant step in realizing deeper regional integration.

According to the Secretary General’s report, the program for elimination of barriers to intra-COMESA trade has assisted phenomenal growth; for instance it increased three times from USD 3.1 billion in 2001 to just over 9 billion in 2007. COMESA with a population of about 400 million and GDP of USD 290 position it as a most attractive region for investment and trade. The Custom Union builds on this base. Furthermore the secretariat reported that trade growth in the Free Trade Area has been exponential, rising from USD 3.2 billion in 2000 when the FTA was launched to USD 15.2 billion in 2008. Performance on diversification has also been good.

The rationale behind the need for Customs Union in the COMESA region is that: the economic size of most countries that is the size of most COMESA economies is under 20 million people in population with a GDP of less than US$10 billion. Such economies are too small to attract any major meaningful investment in today’s global economy where mass production is vital to reduce unit costs. And the second reason is by integrating into one economic space through the FTA and the Customs Union, COMESA has created a large market of close to 400 million people and a combined GDP of US$ 361 billion (2007 IMP figures). On top of this, the COMESA Customs Union would offer many opportunities and benefits to consumers, investors, producers and businesspersons in general.

• To producers: Producers get a larger and wider market and can thus produce more goods

• To traders: traders get a wider source of goods and therefore have more bargaining power in dealing with suppliers, which results in cost savings.

• To importers: Because the Custom Union removes border controls and trade barriers, importing goods becomes faster since traders do not have to go through so many customs procedures in different countries. It reduces transaction costs and results in timely deliveries.

• To Consumers: consumers get a wider choice of goods and also benefit from lower prices since productivity is increased and unit cost reduced.

• To the region as a whole(CU Members): A Customs Union promotes cross-border investment and serves to attract investment, both foreign direct investment(FDI) and domestic investment, as the enlarged market is more attractive to investors than the previously small individual national markets.

It is evident that peace and security is a pre-requisite for economic cooperation and thereby to economic integration. Therefore, the maintenance of peace and security in the COMESA region is of paramount importance to the realization of its programs. Cognizant of this fact the secretariat created a forum of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs some nine years ago to address conflicts in the region. Therefore, prior to the Summit, on the 5th and 6th of June 2009, the COMESA Ministers of Foreign Affairs met to consider the peace and security situation in the region.

COMESA is Africa’s largest Regional grouping with 19 countries as members. Its geographical area extends from Egypt in the North to Swaziland in the South. As reflected during the Ministers of foreign affairs meeting, however, peace and security situation in the COMESA region is still an issue of concern to the member countries because in 10 member states there is a problem of peace and security in one form or another. If the people of this region are to benefit and harness the advantage of Customs Union equitably, then peace and security should prevail in the entire region. Therefore, the Authority should consider the maintenance of peace and security in the region as one of the priority issue.