Comesa calls for women, youth empowerment

Elita Chikwati

WOMEN and youths should be provided with the means to improve their capacity to produce, export products and services to be integrated into regional and continental value chains.

This came out at the 6th Comesa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) trade fair and business conference in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The fair was running under the theme: A Thriving Comesa, which advances Gender Responsive Regional Integration for Unlocking Green Investments, Value Chains, Tourism and Mining in the AfCFTA.”

The event sought to explore ways in which Comesa countries could harness the potential of women and youth.

The Comesa-EAC–SADC Tripartite Free Trade Area offers an integrated market of 28 countries, with a combined GDP OF US$1 300 trillion, combined population of over 800 million, which is 57 percent of Africa’s population and a total landmass of 17.3 million square kilometres.

Comesa secretary-general Mrs Chileshe Kapwepwe said it was important to promote the participation of women and youth in all regional and domestic trade.

“It is important to address systemic, structural and financial challenges that hinder young people from realising their potential and take advantage of opportunities presented by Comesa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” she said.

Mrs Kapwepwe said there was need for inclusiveness.

“To ensure that women and youth are not only represented but meaningfully included, Comesa member states have taken deliberate steps to integrate them into all spheres of development.

“This commitment is enshrined in Articles 154 and 155 of the Comesa Treaty, which underscore the importance of women and youth as active agents of change in our region,” she said.

Comesa established the Comesa Federation of Women in Business (COMFWB) and adopted the Comesa Gender Policy.

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