Vice President Alupo advocates for regional integration

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Vice President Jessica Alupo has rallied member states to embrace regional integration as a survival strategy.

She made the remarks on Friday (October 10) during the 24th Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) summit in Nairobi, Kenya.

While representing President Yoweri Museveni, Alupo said fragmented markets have for a long time confined African people in the vicious cycle of poverty.

The vice president asked the COMESA heads of state and government to embrace value addition, arguing that exporting of raw materials is self-defeating.

She highlighted the significance of peace and stability as being indispensable, and that without them, regional integration remains academic.

Alupo stressed that in order to make digitisation a true driver of growth, member countries must collectively eliminate trade barriers, invest in infrastructure, energy and digital skills and prioritise industrialisation and agro-processing.

Additionally, the Vice President appealed to the COMESA summit to strengthen public-private partnerships, safeguarding regional peace and security and to harness the potential of women and youth.

She urged the participants to seize the opportunities and face the challenges with unity and resolve to build a COMESA that is prosperous, inclusive and resilient.

Alupo, who doubles as the Woman MP for Katakwi district, reaffirmed Uganda's commitment to the COMESA agenda.

"Uganda stands ready to work with all member states to deepen integration and deliver tangible prosperity for our people," she said.

Guided by this year's COMESA theme, 'Leveraging digitalisation to deepen Regional value chains for sustainable and inclusive growth', the VP said the theme resonates well with the global trends on digitalisation, science, technology and innovation to solve our problems.

She appealed to members to reflect on the barriers that technology has broken to enable us to achieve our targets as COMESA member states.

"We must continue to accelerate the establishment of other complementary factors like infrastructure, electricity, human resources development, peace and security for us to achieve modern industrialised economies.

She emphasised that in Uganda, wealth and jobs are in four sectors: commercial agriculture, manufacturing/industry, services and ICT, adding that COMESA is central to Uganda's vision because currently our exports to the region exceed $2b annually.

The Vice President was quick to add that while this sounds good, it presents both challenges and opportunities as Uganda's Intra-COMESA trade still stands at only 6% of our total trade.

Alupo also congratulated William Ruto, the President of the Republic of Kenya, upon the assumption of the Chair of COMESA. She thanked Evariste Ndayishimiye, the President of the Republic of Burundi, for the milestones achieved during his tenure.

Ruto elected chairperson

Ruto assumed the rotating chairmanship at the 24th Summit of Heads of State and Government in Nairobi.

“I accept the chairmanship of COMESA with gratitude, humility, and a deep sense of duty,” he said.

He pledged to advance digital infrastructure, data governance, and capacity building to boost intra-African trade, announcing a $100 million boost to African financial institutions.

Ruto commended President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi, whose leadership has driven remarkable progress. “I pledge to build on his achievements and work with every member state as a committed and collaborative partner.”

“Together, we will advance COMESA’s vision of shared prosperity, deeper integration, and true transformation. Let us shape COMESA into a digital, dynamic, and inclusive regional bloc that embodies the promise of a rising Africa,” he said.

Ruto rallied African countries to work together to increase intra-African trade from the current 14% to 50%, matching other regions that trade between 60% and 70%.

He said unlocking trade for the 1.4 billion Africans on the continent would triple demand for our goods, products and services.

Leaders, including Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Zimbabwe's President Emmerson Mnangagwa, called for urgent action on digital transformation and removing trade barriers to raise the bloc's intra-African trade rate from 15% to 50%.

Mnangagwa reaffirmed Zimbabwe’s commitment to regional integration, trade liberalisation, and good governance.

“We must work together to remove non-tariff barriers, align policies, and strengthen our economies. A stronger COMESA means a stronger Africa,” he said.

Ahmed underlined Ethiopia's unwavering commitment to regional integration and prosperity under the COMESA framework. “We anticipate fruitful deliberations that will deepen the bonds within our regional family.”

COMESA is the largest regional economic organisation in Africa, with 19 member states and a population of about 390 million.